All I Have To Do Is Dream
by magicmumu
Summary: Alex needs the help of her brothers to charm Harper into loving her back. Femslash warning: Unrequited Harper/Alex, Harper/Justin Romance/Humor OMG! This story is FINISHED!
1. If Only She Knew

All I Have To Do Is Dream

by Erin Griffin

Fandom: Wizards of Waverly Place

Pairing: Possible unrequited Harper/Alex

Rating: PG

Summary: Alex needs the help of her brothers to charm Harper into loving her back.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. That is Disney. I don't own the song 'All I Have to Do is Dream'. That song belongs to the Everly Brothers, and the cover I refer to in this story belongs to the Corrs. I promise to have the characters back before curfew.

Chapter 1

Alex Russo wasn't sure what she was going to do. She had been pacing for a good twenty minutes now, ever since Harper had left and she had failed once again to tell her how she'd been feeling for her since, well, forever. She always told herself that today would be the day, and then the day would pass because she was too scared, or because Harper was having another breakdown, or because Harper was clinging to Justin and she was too jealous to want to speak. There was nothing to hold her back. She was scared, sure, but she knew for a fact that Harper wouldn't hate her for feeling this way. It might be a little awkward at first, but she would feel flattered, if nothing else. Alex wondered what she was going to do. She was at the point where she was sure to explode. At first, it was really hard on her keeping this secret and the secret of being a wizard, but now that Harper knows about her magic, it had been better for a while. Now, she just can't keep things bottled in anymore, yet whenever she is with Harper, she can't seem to breathe, let alone tell her the other big secret.

Suddely, the door to her room opened, and Justin walked in. "Hey, you trying to burn a hole in the floor? I can hear you pacing from the shop!"

"Don't you knock, Barf Face?!" Alex yelled back. She twisted her body towards her bed and grabbed her pillow, throwing it at her brother, who ducked. Not that it was neccisary, as she had missed him by a long shot, anyway.

"What is wrong with you?" Justin asked with a scowl. Alex's mouth twisted, and she wanted to say it, she really did, but she wasn't going to tell him.

Before she could reply or even to tell him to get his nerdy butt out of her room, Max busted in. "Have any of you seen my singing yellow hat?" He looked between his older brother and sister. "No?"

"No." Alex replied slowly.

"You have a siging yellow hat?" Justin asked, clearly ready to start a lecture about animating objects again.

"It's a long story," the youngest Russo said quickly, making a visual sweep around Alex's room.

"Do we want to know?" Alex wondered.

"Its best if you don't," Max replied. With that, he was gone, leaving Alex and Justin to look after him. Alex was the first to shake her head.

"Okay, so one issue resolved for now... I think. What's going on, Alex?" Justin asked.

"That's for me to know and Harper to find out, and for you... to... Never." Alex shot back. Just stared at his sister momentarily, and just when Alex was about to ask what he was looking at, he looked out the hallway quickly, and then shut the door behind him. He stared at his sister again until Alex said, "Okay, say something or get out because you're really starting to freak me out."

"For Harper to find out that you're in love with her?" Justin finally asked. "That you've been in love with her at least since you were twelve?"

"Ten, but how did you know?"

"I'm a wizard-"

"You're a-nnoying. Heh, get it?" Alex asked, laughing at her own joke. When Justin didn't respond to that, Alex stopped. "Oh shut up, that was funny."

"Anyway," Justin said in a frusterated tone, "more importantly, I am your brother. I know these things. And I have a feeling that you've been trying to tell Harper for a while now how you feel about her, but you can't seem to."

"It was so much easier telling her that we're wizards than it is to tell her this. And you can't tell her, either!"

"If I was going to tell her, you think I would've by now? Jeeze Alex, I've known for 4 years and haven't said a thing, even when Harper had snuck into my room at your slumber party dressed as a bride." Justin said. Alex had to agree. If Justin were to have told Harper, he would have done it a long time ago to get Harper off his back. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but she owed Justin a lot for that. There was a short silence between them, and then Justin said, "You know, she won't hate you or anything." Alex nodded. She did know. "I'll help you out in telling her if you need me to." Again Alex nodded, but she said nothing as she let the silence fall over them again. "Come on, its your shift in the sub shop." Alex groaned, but she followed Justin down the stairs.

Alex was surprised by the amount of people who were lined up outside the subshop, and she felt a little relieved when they weren't waiting anxiously to get into their shop, but to the coffee shop across from them. "What is going on?" Alex asked her father as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek in his way to delivering two baskets of sandwhich orders. He shrugged as he placed the plates down, smiled at the customer, who had thanked him, and walked back behind the counter.

"I don't know. I think there is like a promotion or something to get more people to go inside," Jerry Russo said to his daughter.

"Oh. So where am I stationed today, Dad?"

Jerry looked confused. "I didn't have you schedualed for a shift today, but since you asked, I do need some help in the back with cleaning the slicer."

Alex looked at Justin, who smirked at her. "You are dead!" Justin let out a hearty laugh and then left the shop.

"AH!" He called in a loud voice as he stood in the doorway, "Such freedom!" He then walked away with other laugh.

To Be Continued...


	2. Guitar Hero

Chapter 2

Alex put her whole upper body into cleaning the slicer. Though she wanted to murder her brother for tricking her, she was glad for the distraction from her earlier problems. She felt the bead of sweat on her forehead and scowled with disgust. "I don't work this hard. Something must seriously be wrong with me," she murmured.

"You're doing great, honey," her father called from the counter. "Can you help me make a double meat turkey on rye?" he asked. She gave him a wince, which he mistook for a smile as a reply, and she went to work on that. Order after order she had filled, and her father kept smiling at her with encouragement, and really, for how she was feeling that day, it was the only real payment she needed sometimes. This would put her on her father's good side for the moment she decided to use magic without permission again, and everyone knew that she would.

"Thanks Daddy," she said. About twenty minutes later, she saw Justin coming inside and giving her a smug look. He wanted a reaction out of her, but he didn't get one. He then walked into the back and washed his hands, then put on some gloves and helped her with one of her four orders. "What are you doing?"

"Thought you might like some help in here. I figure I owe you that much, since I tricked you into being here."

"Aw, was widdle Justin getting guilty? How thweet," Alex said in a baby voice. Justin scowled at her, but he didn't look up fro the lettuce as he restocked it for her, and then went to toast sourdough bread for the next order. "Thanks," she said in a low tone as he tossed it to her work station, where she put some of the sliced jalepenos on top of ham and salami. She took the small bottle of mayonase and topped it, sliced the sandwhich in half, and then put it in the basket before she accepted the toasted wheat bread for her next order. She heard the splashes of the fryer as Justin dropped the basket of fries that she had forgotten to do, and she gave him a weak smile of thanks. Justin then turned on the radio, and after a small argument on whether to listen to The Freakshow, Alex's current favorite band, or The Mathletics, Justin's favorite band, they agreed to switch off every 15 minutes, and they got back to work. Throughout the lunch rush, Justin and Alex worked this way, which made Jerry wonder what was going on with his children, as Max was running around looking frantically for something yellow, and his two oldest kids were actually working together with minimal bickering.

Finally, he had enough. As Alex and Justin restocked the condements and cheeses for the evening rush, Jerry marched up to them. "Alright, who did it? Was it you? I bet it was you, Alex."

Both Russo children looked at their father as if he was nuts. "What are you talking about, Dad? I've been working here since Harper left. I haven't had time to get into trouble."

At his father's look, Justin said, "I tricked Alex into working today, and then my conscience told me to come in and help her, since it was getting pretty busy around here."

Jerry stared at his kids, then he said, "You're off the hook for now, but I am watching you. Both of you. Especially you," he said this last part pointing at Alex. He then said, "Alright, finish up in here. Clean the toasters, sweep the floors, and then get out of here."

"Sheesh, even if I am not doing something bad, I get in trouble. And you wonder why I am bad all the time," Alex said with a shrug. "It just seems easier that." When she was finished with her work, she took off her apron and put it in the small basket to be washed at the end of the night. Then she got out of Justin's way as he went through the floor with the broom. As she walked away, she heard her brother call after her. "What?"

"Where are you going? You know, in case I need an aliby?"

"Just across the street to see what the big deal is. It hasn't slowed down there since I got here."

"Oh," Justin said. That was that, apperently, Alex figured, so she started again towards the door. "Alex!"

Alex turned again. "WHAT?!" Justin pointed to her hands, and she saw that she was still wearing the rubber gloves. "Right." She took them off and tossed them on her way out and then she left the sub shop. She walked across the road and saw the poster sign for what was going on and excitedly, she ran back into the subshop, where she just caught Justin before he walked up the stairs. "I know how you can help me talk to Harper and hopefully get her to like me!"

Justin was skeptical. He wasn't sure what got his sister so excited, but he knew it couldn't have been good. When Alex suddenly bent down to grab her wand from her sock, he shook his head frantically. "Oh no, I am not going to help you put a spell on Harper so that she will fall in love with you."

"Ooh, good idea, but I would never put a spell on Harper." At her bother's look, she added, "Today. No, the coffee shop is holding a competition to launch the record label sponcered by them. First prize gets the record label, and the runner up gets a year's supply of coffee and dougnuts."

"A year's supply of coffee and dougnuts? No wonder Max was looking for the yellow singing hat. Though I doubt he's the one person on earth who needs any coffee ever..." Justin seemed to think about the reprocussions of Max + Coffee, and the equasion didn't add up to anything good.

"Focus," Alex commanded.

"So what does this have to do with you and Harper?" Justin wondered. At this, Alex waved her wand in he brother's direction. "Oh no! Alex-"

"_Give this boy a cool guitar and make him into a superstar. A lead singer he will need, give me a great voice so I can sing_." Alex waved the wand over the both of them and saw that they both had guitar cases in their hands, and Alex had a microphone in the other. "Hm, I'm multi-talented."

"What have you done to us, Alex?"

"When Harper learns that you've picked up playing the guitar again, she will surely be there at that competition to hear the song that WE will sing to her. I'll sing, you can be backup. I will dedicate the song to her, and she will know how I feel. This will be great!"

"Do you remember the LAST time we were trying to be in a band?"

"Yes, but it will be different this time."

"How?"

"We are under a spell and now we're actually good! Go ahead, play something!" Alex said. Justin did as he was told, and as soon as the guitar was in his hand, his fingers moved at the fastest pace he had ever seen. "See? Now we can sign up for the competition. Come on!" Alex took the sleeve of her brother's sweater and pulled him out of the sub shop. Justin dragged his feet, even though this plan actually made a lick of sense for once, and it would make them both look good. Who knew, he might actually get the attention of Melissa, the barista from that shop he'd had his eye on for the last couple of weeks. However, he was worried about the possible side effects of the spell, or more importantly, the trouble he would be in if their parents found out.

To Be Continued...


	3. Singing Sibling Group

Chapter 3

"You may be a singer now, but you still get on my nerves with your impatience," Justin said as Alex asked once more what time it was and how much longer they were going to have to wait in line. He strummed a few more chords while Alex jumped up and down again to get a look at the line in front of them.

"But we've been in this line for an hour now. How long does it take for them to accept us into the competition?"

"I don't know. I would have to assume that it takes so long because bands have to set up and play their song, which would be at least three minutes," Justin explained.

"Not me," Max said happily. "I've got a yellow singing hat. No set up needed."

"Isn't that, I don't know, cheating?" Alex asked. She had stopped jumping, which made Justin happy to see.

"What the judges don't know will help me win those dougnuts," Max replied.

"Win us the doughnuts," Alex stressed. Somehow Max had convinced her that he would make a great background singer with his yellow singing hat, and after hearing the singing hat sing along with her, she had to agree. As long as Max turned the hat so that no one could see the seems moving and he remembered the words to the song they were going to do for the first round, they just might be another singing sibling group, like the Jonas Brothers or Hanson, but wizards as well.

"Does Mom and Dad know where we are?" Justin finally asked.

"We're right outside the shop, and they've been watching us from the terrace since we got in line, so I would say so." Alex replied. Justin nodded and continued to play the song he loved so much from the Mathletics called 'Pi'. There was something about her brother's behavior that was starting to get to Alex. Max, being Max, didn't seem to notice, but Alex had. In the last hour, Justin seemed to change a little bit. She hoped that this wasn't the spell about to go crazy on them. "Alright guys, we need to sort of practice the song we're going to do for the preliminary round," Alex said.

"Pre- What?" Max wondered. He snapped out of whatever doughnut themed daydream he was having.

"Preliminary," Justin said with boredom in his voice as if he didn't care.

"Sounds tasty," Max said.

"Preliminary means the first round that makes or breaks a band. There are three rounds to this. First round is this, then the top 25 bands picked will give a concert together, and then they get cut to 5 bands in that third round, and the best two in that last round win the prizes." At this Justin stopped playing all together.

"Aren't you forgetting something? We are still enchanted with your spell, and being under a spell for too long, no matter what it is, can be dangerous!"

"I know, but I didn't expect for us to be in this line for so long, and I can't remove this spell once I've cast it."

"Why not?" Justin demanded.

"Because I kinda don't know it- Okay! Are we in the front of the line yet?!" Alex said quickly. Justin took her arm.

"You don't remember how to reverse the spell?"

"I know it is 'something something something something something... BACK!' " Alex said.

"Great!" Justin exploded.

"Justin, calm down. I'm sure we can get to the lair after we try out, reverse the spell, and then put it back on us tomorrow night for the second round if we get past this round." Alex stared him down and when he finally looked away, she looked ahead of her and hoped that they could get to the front soon.

"Fine, Justin huffed. He did the beginning to the one song they had agreed to sing together for the preliminary round, which was The Archies' song 'Sugar Sugar'. All three of the Russo children loved listening to that song when they were younger, and they used to perform that song for fun before Alex, Justin and Max were introduced to their wizard anscestry and the rivalry sort of began. It was also the only song all three of them remembered all of the words to. Alex and Max started to sing together as Justin played, and he joined in on the chorus. A couple of people in the line looked at them and smiled, liking what they heard, so Alex felt okay about how they would sound for the preliminary round.

"We can do this if we stick together, guys," she said. She knew they would. Then they could get to the second round and play one of Harper's favorite songs dedicated to her, and if Alex sang well, she could get her messege through to Harper and hope for the best.

To Be Continued....


	4. Just The Russos' Sing Sugar Sugar

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not Own the Archies or the song Sugar Sugar. It is just a sweet (haha) song that I really like. Sorry if I got somethings wrong in it. I was going by the version I heard and tried to put it on paper the best I could.

*_Italics_ = song lyrics

( ) means all chorus or Max and Alex singing at the same time.

It took another two hours and fifteen minutes before the Russos made it to the front of the line. Their parents were surprised that all three of them had the attention span to stay in line the whole time, with the exception of when the three took turns rotating to the bathroom and to the kitchen for something to eat. Jerry and Theresa were sure that Alex and Max would leave the line and just forget it, leaving Justin with no choice but to either go solo or leave the line as well. They were even more surprised when they saw them from the terrace in the first place. They didn't know about the spell Alex had put on Justin and herself. They snuggled on the terrace and watched as their children talked and bickered in line, knowing they were about to work as a team to enter this competition, and though they weren't sure how far they could go, they hoped for the best as any proud parent would.

Finally, Alex, Max and Justin made it to the front where a table had been set up, and someone took down their names. "Band name?" the woman with a lot of tattoos asked them. The three of them looked at eachother. There had been been some fighting about that, but no one had come up with a name that they could agree on.

"We should be just the Russos. I mean, it worked for Hanson," Alex suggested. Justin nodded and Max was too busy with the sandwhich he'd made.

"Fine."

"Alright, 'Just The Russos'. Here you are." The woman gave them all a pass, and they went inside, where they set up the microphone and Justin plugged in his guitar into the amp. Alex took her guitar out as well, and put it on the stand as she fixed herself up a little bit. She didn't want to look like a bum in front of the preliminary judges.

Max looked around and went to the bottom of the small stage, where someone had a tambarine, and he pointed to it. "May I borrow that for our song?" he asked. The man who held it shrugged and handed it to him. "Thank you." He rattled it around a few times, and then he looked at his brother and sister. "Quick Russo huddle."

"Since when do you call the Russo Huddle?" Justin asked.

"Since I got the tambarine." Max said. It really didn't make any sense, but with the added instrument, they really did need to talk about it for a moment. "Okay this will be great," he said as soon as the three were crouched together, their heads almost touching.

"Great thinking on the tambarine, Max," Justin said, "It will really accent my guitar playing."

"Your guitar playing? We both have guitars, Doofus." Alex argued.

"Guys!" Max whispered harshly, "Not right now. We only have a couple of minutes to set up. We can't blow this. We need those doughnuts!" Justin rolled his eyes/

"We do need to get to the second round," Alex agreed. Once they got to the second round, she could tell Harper how she feels about her. Justin caught on to this somehow and he nodded to her. "Okay, so why did you call the huddle?"

"Two things," Max began. "First, the tambarine. I will count us in. I think that we should sing it exactly how we used to. Remember, I would sing the chorus with Alex in the background and Justin sings the verses. Just for this round," Max added in when Alex looked as if she was about to argue it. "Then in the next round, you two can find a song we can practice this week where Alex can sing the lead, but for right now..."

"Right. This is what we all know," Justin said. "All agreed?"

"Agreed," said Justin

"Agreed," said Alex

"Agreed," said the yellow singing hat, or sang, more like.

"Alright," Max said after a somewhat shocked silence. "One, Two Three."

"RUSSOS!! OUT!!" the three of them shouted, breaking the huddle. Then the three of them went to their stations, Alex and Max next to eachother sharing her mic while Justin used a mic that was already set up. They waited for a moment as Justin got comfortable on his stool, Alex stood next to hers with Max adjusting his yellow singing hat, which they hoped would add to their harmony just as it had when they practiced in the street.

"Whenever you're ready," the owner of the coffee shop, Martin Hagerty, said to them with a smile. He wasn't sure what to think of this small group, but they were kids, and he figured he would give them a try. Plus, he knew them from the Waverly Sub Station across the street. They were pretty good kids.

"Five, Six, Seven, Eight!" Max counted off, and Justin and Alex began to play along. He faltered slightly as he listened to their rhythem and then he began to play the tambarine with them. He winced, and hoped that alone hadn't cost them the doughnuts. He caught Justin's eye, who nodded to him with encouragement as well as a que for to him to start.

_Sugar_

Justin played the part that was supposed to be more for a keyboard on the guitar instead. It sounded different, but not bad. Alex then joined her little brother on the next set of words.

_(Ah, Honey Honey...)_

Justin, Max, and Alex finished the line together.

_You are my Candy Girl_

_And you've got me wanting you_

Alex looked to Justin, who smirked. The three of them sounded good. Well, the four of them, if the hat was doing its job.

_Honey,_

Max looked again to Justin as he did his part, aknowledging his playing, and he knew that they were doing well.

_(Ah Sugar Sugar)_

_You are my Candy Girl_

_And you've got me wanting you_

Justin let his fingers do the work as he thought about the words for the song. It had been a while since they perforned this song in front of their parents and family friends, and when they were waiting in the street, he had a little bit of problem remembering the lyrics. Since his guitar playing was the work of magic, he just had to worry about the song lyrics. As he went to sing, he could hear Max's hat helping him with a genderless voice.

_I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you_

_(I just can't believe it's true)_

_I just can't believe the wonder of this feeling, too_

_(I just can't believe it's true)_

_Aw, Sugar!_

At this, Max and Alex joined in, the two of them rocking in towards the mic and eachother and then out again with the song.

_(Ah, Honey Honey)_

_You are my Candy Girl_

_And you've got me wanting you_

_Oh, Honey!_

_(Ah, Sugar Sugar)_

_You are my Candy Girl_

_And you've got me wanting_

Alex and Max continued to 'dance together' as Justin went in for the second verse. Even Alex had to admit, this was pretty fun being with her bothers again and performing like they used to.

_When I kissed you girl, I knew how sweet a kiss could be_

_(I knew how sweet a kiss could be)_

_Like the summer sunshine, pour your sweetness over me_

_(Pour your sweetness over me)_

_OH! Sugar! (Pour a little sugar on me Honey!)_

_Pour a little sugar on me Baby! (Honey Honey!)_

Alex then came in on her own.

_"I'm gonna make your life so sweet!" (Hey, hey-yeah!)_

Justin came in now with Max and Alex in the background. He smiled again as he looked at his younger brother and sister, seeing how much they were all getting into it. Even if they didn't make it to the next round, he was glad that he could do this with his siblings again. He then went in to do his part.

_Pour a little sugar on me, oh yeah!_

_Pour a little sugar on me Honey!_

_Pour a little sugar on me Baby!_

Alex came in again.

_"I'm gonna make your life so sweet!" (Hey, hey-yeah!)_

Justin went in to do his part, but he quickly moved his hand from his guitar and waved Max in, but he didn't get the messege.

_Pour a little sugar on me Honey!_

_Oh Sugar!_

At this, as Max and Justin repeated the chorus, Alex began singing in the background, and the hat sang with her.

_(Baddum, Baddum, Baddum, Baddum)_

_Oh, Honey Honey_

_(Baddum Baddum Baddum Bah-Bah)_

_You are my Candy Girl_

_(Babbum Baddum Baddum Baddum)_

_And you've got me wanting you!_

_(Baddum Baddum Baddum Bah-Bah)_

_OH! Honey!_

_(Honey, Honey, Sugar, Sugar)_

_Sugar Sugar!_

_(Honey, Honey, Sugar, Sugar)_

_You are my Candy Girl_

_(Baddum Baddum Baddum Bah-Bah...)_

Justin made a loud note on the guitar at the same time Max hit the tambarine pretty hard, and they ended the song.

_And you've got me wanting you!_

There was a round of polite clapping as Max gave the tambarine back to the man who let him borrow it. "Thank you."

"No problem. Nice work up there, kid."

"Thank you," Max said again. The three Russos looked hopefully at the judges before they went to take down their equiptment and put it away.

"Good job, you guys. If you get a call from us, we want you back here next Saturday for the concert. Otherwise, I would like to thank you for trying out. You did really well. Fernando here was taping your audition, so if you want to take a look, we should have it up by about Wednesday on Youtube. Just search for Hagerty Beans." Martin said to them. They shook his hand, thanked him, and hurried back to their house. They waited until they got inside before they whooped and hollared and gave high fives. That... was awesome.

To Be Continued


	5. Family Dinner

Chapter 5

Max put up his singing yellow hat in a place where he knew he would find it later. Then he went to where his mother was getting out some of the food from dinner that the three had missed and heated it up. "Thanks Mom," he said. It had been over two hours since the audition, and about three since he had eaten last, so he was ready for dinner.

Alex was about to sit down to eat as well when her cell phone rang. When she answered it, she heard a loud stream of words, but they were so fast, she didn't understand what was being said. "Harper, HARPER! Slow down. What?! Start over!"

"I saw you on the Internet!" Harper exploded. "And Max and Justin!" Alex scowled at the sighed mention of her older brother, who had been in his room playing the guitar since they got back.

"Really? How?"

"One of the people who worked there taped you guys on her cell phone, and she put it on the coffee shop's website. When I heard about the competition, I went online to check out what it was about, and I saw you guys there. You guys were so awesome at your audition. I didn't even know you guys were musically inclined. And Justin singing and being on the guitar..."

"Harper." Alex said, but she got no reply. "HARPER!"

"Sorry."

"Do you know who it was who posted that video? Or do you know why?"

"I think she wrote that she liked the fact that the tambarine player- Max was wearing a cool yellow hat, but also because you guys were the youngest to enter the competition and one of the best acts."

Alex noticed the look that her mother was giving her and she said, "Looks like it is time for me to go. It is time for dinner. Thanks for the heads up. I'll see if I can call you back later tonight. Otherwise, you'll hear from me tomorrow." When she flipped her phone closed, she put it on silent and then went to wash her hands for dinner. Max had to go up the stairs to inform Justin that the food was ready, and then they all sat down.

"So, I was surprised when I saw all three of you in line for that competition." Theresa said conversationally after she ate most of her tostada salad.

"Yeah, without asking any of us first," Jerry added in.

"Dad, we're-" Justin began to say, but he only got a small laugh from his father.

"I'm kidding. You and Alex worked hard today. The least I could do was let you try and audition for that thing. How do you think you did?" he asked. Alex and Justin looked at eachother, unsure what to say, since for the most part they didn't know, yet figured it was pretty good considering what they did to get there. Part of Alex was a little hurt that her father sounded as if they didn't really have a shot, but it had been a cute effort for them to try.

"I think we did great! We're a shoe-in for those doughnuts, dad." Max said.

"Right! Because... That is the only reason why we... would enter a singing contest. For doughnuts." Alex said uneasily.

"But I thought-" Max started to say, but stopped when he felt a kick under the table. "Ow!"

"Of course you would think that because that is what we are doing. I mean, who wouldn't want a year's supply of doughnuts?"

"I thought you didn't like doughnuts," Theresa said with a raised eyebrow, which seemed to have been Max's question as well.

"I... I don't. No. I don't. But Justin and Max do, and I at first really didn't want to do this, but they then brought up all the GREAT memories of us singing as kids, and... I got a little misty-eyed." She put a hand to her face for emphasis on this.

"You guys sang one of the songs you used to perform at parties?"

"Yeah, we sang that Archies song we all loved so much," Max supplied. Alex was glad that she wasn't the only one speaking now, as her father was looking at her strangely.

"Yeah, and we even got it on video on the website, which is why Harper just called. Looks like we were the youngest group to try out," Alex said. "Maybe we can watch it after we eat," she said hopefully. Theresa seemed to really like this idea.

"Oh, I remember when you used to dress up in your best clothes and come out singing those songs off of your father's old records. You all looked so cute, and Max could barely remember the words, but you guys would work together and help him out." As their mther went off into her memeories, Jerry smiled.

"Yeah, I remember all that. I would love to see your performance. Your mom and I were talking about that when we were waiting on the terrace for you guys. I'm glad that we will be able to now." He smiled at all of his children, and Alex smiled back.

About twenty minutes later, after the food was stored and the dishes were put away, Max was booting up the family computer and logging into his account, as it was his turn to use it that night, anyway. Justin had a computer in his room, as did Alex, but Max still had to keep his computer time supervised. He then went to the coffeeshop's website and saw that their video was right there at the middle of the page. He clicked on the play button and watched their performace again. He had to admit that from this perspective, they looked really good. " 'Just the Russos', huh? I like it." Jerry said. He then squinted as he watched the video a little longer. "You guys are good. Too good..." Jerry suddenly took in a deep breath of air and pointed to Alex. "You used magic yo make yourselves musicians, didn't you?!"

Alex took a second and then scoffed. "No. Why would I do that?"

"ALEX!"

"Alright, I did a tiny spell, but the rest of it is because of Max's hat!"

"What?" Jerry said, confused.

"Yeah," Alex said, "a singing yellow hat. And we harmonize really well, I must say-"

"Alright, all of you on the couch, now! It's time for another lecture on the use of magic."

"Good going, Alex," Justin said with an eyerool.

"MOVE IT!"

To Be Continued...


	6. Magical Side Affects

Chapter 6

Alex, Max, and Justin Russo sat on the couch and half-listened to their father has he went through the same rant he'd done since they first started learning magic. Alex looked down at her knees as he spoke, but she didn't feel as bad as she was leading him to believe. She had a surprisingly good time with her brothers, and she hoped that they could make it to the next round where she could show Harper how she feels for her. She spared a glance at her brothers. Max had his thinking face on, and Justin was staring at the guitar on his lap.

"What spell did you use?!" Jerry ended his rant by asking. He plopped the spellbook on Alex's lap, which made her jump, and she flipped through it until she saw the familiar words she'd uttered a few hours prior to that moment. She pointed to it as she haded the book back to her father, and Jerry read it over. "Alex," he said with a tight jaw.

"Look, it says there that the spell will wear off as soon as the concert is over, so it is all done now, right?" Alex asked, giving her father a sweet smile.

"It also says that the guitar and microphone that was summoned for the spell would disappear as well. Both of the guitars are still here, as well as the microphone," Jerry said, looking pointedly at the said objects in between them all.

"Wait, our concert is over. I don't understand-"

"Oh my god!" Justin cut in, "Our concert isn't over! If Alex put the spell on us for the contest, and the spell has yet to wear off, then that must mean that we're in the second round!" Justin put a hand to his mouth as his eyes widened. "I- I've got to practice. A-And get some mousse! I need to play and look my best for my fans!"

"What fans?" Alex asked under her breath.

"Justin, sit down." Jerry watched and waited until his son obeyed him before he continued, "I've got to admit, that is the only thing that really makes sense. There's just a couple of problems with that. It says here that the longer the spell is on you, the worse the side affects get, and it is hard to tell just which side affect you're going to get, as it varies from wizard to wizard."

"Coughing, wheezing, sore throat and nasal congestion?" Alex asked, remembering the list from a medication comercial.

"More like no voice, arrogent rockstar-like behavior, obssessiveness over the guitar and anything to do with music..." At this Jerry looked over at Justin, who only shrugged. "As well as random singing, out of control facial hair, random animal noises, and the rare side effect of purple skin. Among others!"

"Purple skin. I wish Alex had put the spell on me-"

"That isn't funny, Max. There is no reversal for the spell, and though the side effect may be funny sounding, they could turn dangerous and expose our secret," Jerry said, cutting Max off from what he was going to say. "Alex, how could you be so careless with magic?"

"Because... Its expected of me?" the only Russo daughter asked hopefully.

"I'm disappointed in you. All of you."

"Hey, why me?" Max asked.

"Because of your singing... hat." Jerry replied.

"That is an honest magical item that I bought off of Wizbay two months ago with my allowence and your Merlincard. You saw me do it, you were standing right behind me!" Max protested. Jerry thought about it and then he nodded.

"But I'm still disappointed in you for not telling me that they were enchanted."

"I didn't even know! I just thought we were all on the same page, and we all wanted doughnuts for a whole year," Max argued.

"He's right. He wasn't there when I cast the spell. But Justin so totally saw what I was going to do, so he's in trouble too, right?" Alex asked.

"Enough. All of you go to your rooms and think about this while your mother and I decide whether or not you play that next round."

"We have to, it is the concert that ends the spell," Justin said. Jerry clenched his fists and looked around with frustration. "But I'll be in my room if you need me," he added quickly. "Come on, Alex. Max." Justin said, grabbing his guitar and the sleeves of his siblings. He then hurried up the stairs, and guitar notes could be heard from his room a moment later.

"Alright, well... No matter what you decide our punishment will be, always know that as your ownly daughter, I love you-"

"Room!" Jerry said pointing up the stairs. Alex did as she was told, dragging her feet as she made it up the stairs with Max in tow.

"Why do you guys always have to get me in trouble? All I wanted..." Max grumbled.

Once all three of their children were in their rooms, Theresa looked at her husband and said, "So, what should their punishment be?"

"I don't know. I suppose letting them suffer the side affects alone would be punishment enough, but I am not sure if even that would get through to them." Jerry shook his head, trying to figure something out. "What I don't understand, is why would Alex want to enter that contest bad enough to drag Justin into it? And why would Justin just go along with it?"

"I don't know, Jerry. It does seem odd. She's more of an artist than a musician. I thought she learned that after she and Justin tried to be in a band."

"I know, and that's another thing..."

Upstairs in her room, Alex Russo looked at the picture-booth photo of her and Harper as they made silly faces at the camera until they got to the last one, where they smiled at eachother as they laughed at their own antics and couldn't get a straight face for the last shot. She gave the left side of the picture a quick kiss before she leaned back on her pillow and stared at it. _Yes, _she thought to herself, _Any punishment for doing this spell would be worth it if the rest of this plan works. _

To Be Continued...


	7. Good Morning Russos

Chapter 7

***Songs used in this chapter (in order) are: Get Out (Leave) by JoJo, Let Me in by REM, Keep On Singing My Song by Christina Aguilera, Purple Haze by Jimmy Hendrix, and Yeah by Usher***

After a weird dream involving being Alanis Morrisette's backup singer, Alex woke up really happy. She frowned as the dream came to her, but she shrugged it off. She supposed she could have had worse dreams, like the one where she had to marry Justin after a spell she'd done went haywire. Alex shuddered at the thought of that dream and then got out of bed. The first thing she did was check her skin. No purple. She sighed with relief. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain to Harper why she was purple. She would want to know why she had done the spell to begin with, and that wasn't something she wasn't willing to do into without a guitar in her hands and a magical microphone on front of her. She got out her change of clothes and went to the bathroom, but was just barely beat by Justin.

"Get out! (Leave!) Right now!"

Alex could hear Justin inside the bathroom, while she covered her mouth. What was that? Why did she suddenly start singing JoJo? She banged on the door. "Make me!" Justin called back, though she could tell that it was a sing song voice to mock her. Alex continued to bang on the door.

"Heeeeey! Let me in."

"I know that song! I didn't know you listen to REM," Jerry said as he came out of his and Theresa's room to see what the commotion was about. Justin opened the door and smiled widely.

"I think Alex has the first side effect of the spell."

"No, you and that guitar. That was the first side effect." Jerry countered. He looked at his daughter and thought about this for a second. "Say something else, Alex." Alex only shook her head. "Alex, do it."

"I'm gonna keep on singing my song"

"Yep, the side effects have already started to kick in," Jerry said, looking between his children. He wasn't sure what they could do about this particular thing at the moment. He was just glad that neither one of them woke up with purple skin.

Suddenly the door to Max's room opened up, and Jerry's eyes went wide.

"Purple haze all in my brain  
lately things don't seem the same  
Acting funny and I don't know why  
excuse me while I kiss the sky"

"Don't worry, it is just paint." Max called out with a small purple hand up. He then looked strangely at his sister. "What's up with you?" When she didn't answer and once he saw the look on his father's face, he continued, "I just wanted to see what I would look like with purple skin. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Max, you've got to get to school in less than an hour. With Justin hogging the bathroom and then Alex next, you really think you will have enough time to wash all of the paint off of you?"

"I'm not 'hogging' the bathroom!" Justin protested.

"Then take no more than ten minutes and get out so Alex and Max can get in." Jerry said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Yeah, yeah! (Yeah!)

Jerry pointed in warning at Alex as she circled and laughed at Max. Jerry looked between his children unsure what to do. "Max gets first shower to ensure he gets all the paint off. Then Justin, but only 10 minutes, and then you Alex. Sorry, first come, first serve." He finished apologetically.

"But Dad! I need to mousse my hair!" Justin argued. At Jerry's look, he sighed. "I guess I could finish my hair in my room. Jerry shook his head, hoping that the morning madness had been resolved well. No one made any further argument as Max got into the bathroom and shut the door. Justin got a towel out of the closet and when the door opened again, he threw it in Max's face before the boy even had a chance to say anything. The rest of the morning went on without much more delay, if you didn't count the constant singing from Alex as she argued with Justin, and Jerry pretended he didn't even hear it half of the time.

To Be Continued…


	8. Justin 'Big J' Russo Arrives

Chapter 8

"...and you really should have told me that you were going to enter the contest," Harper said for the third time in her rambling. It was times like this that Alex was glad that Harper could go on for many minutes without Alex's input, as she never once asked why she hadn't spoken since they left the Waverly Place Sub Station for school. Alex only shrugged as she had the first two times. Harper stopped walking just as they entered the grounds of the school, but had yet to enter the building. "Why aren't you saying anything? In fact, why haven't you said anything since you left your house with me this morning?" Alex winced, but she didn't want to break out into song. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"I-" She stopped for a second when she realized that, though a little hoarse, she was using her own speaking voice as well as her own words, not just song lyrics she hadn't heard before. "It's been a weird morning," she said instead. "I thought... Something was going to happen when I spoke, but it hasn't, so all is good."

"Alright," Harper said slowly as she looked at her best friend. This wasn't the first time Alex had acted strangely towards her lately, and that is saying something, considering the fact that she is a wizard. Still, Harper got the feeling that something just wasn't being said. She stared at Alex, knowing that this would bug her, but she had hoped that it would make her say something, give her a clue of some sort as to what was going on with her.

"What?"

"Something... isn't right," Harper finaly said, setting her large orange backpack down on the ground. "It's weird, and that is coming from-" Harper stopped mid-sentance when she saw a figure walking towards them, guitar in hand and stumming it softly as he walked. "H-Hi Justin. Nice guitar."

"Hello ladies," Justin replied smoothly, looking from Harper to give his sister a smug look. Alex stared at him for a second, taking in his new look. Justin had on a white shirt, covered by a grey vest and a yellow and black striped tie, jeans with the knees ripped, and a black leather jacket. He wore his usual pair of casual sneakers for Saturdays, but instead of them being clean as usual, it looked as if Justin purposely scuffed them on dusty ground. He had used gel or mousse to put his hair up in a small mohawk, as he short haior woudln't have allowed for him to have much of one. He then looked back at Harper, taking her in for a second before speaking again. "So Harper, with me and my guitar soon to become a rockstar, I'm gonna need a groupy or two. You in?"

Harper brought her hands to her chest as her cheeks reddened. "O-Okay. Of course, Justin," she said.

"The name's Big J," he corrected her. He put a couple of fingers to Harper's chin and gave a sort of head nod to her. When his hand left her face, Harper brought her own hand to where Justin had touched her, and the blush deepened.

Seething, Alex asked, "Big J? More like 'Big Jerk'. How did you convince Mom and Dad to let you out of the house looking like a Hufflepuff who was turned down for a role in 'Grease'?"

"Oh, Little Sister," Justin said, reaching into his inner jacket pocket for a pair of sunglasses, "if you possessed any of the charm that I do, you'd know that they didn't need any convincing."

"You snuck out of the house, didn't you?"

With a shrug, Justin said, "One does what he can to look good."

"Then you might want to sneak back in the house and try again, 'Big J'," Alex retorted with a scoff.

"I'd be nice, 'Little Sister," Justin shot back in the same tone while he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and walked away a couple of steps, "if you want my guitar skills to help you win her over." He looked back at Harper, who stared at the siblings with a somewhat glassed over expression on her face. "Though, I won't blame her if she decides to remain my groupy. And straight." Justin's last words were said in a whisper before he planted a somewhat rough and exaggerated kiss on Alex's temple. "Now play nice in front of Harper before your cover gets blown." Justin let her go with a small shove, and the two of them went to rejoin Harper, who stared adoringly at Justin.

Alex swallowed and tried to hide her shock and hurt. Maybe Justin 'Big J' was right, but Alex didn't want to give in to that almost definate possibility that Harper was straight and would never love Alex in the way she loved her. She frowned behind Justin's back as Harper gushed about the costumes she would make for the other groupies that would surely join her. Alex knew that this new Justin was here because of the side effects of the spell were really getting to him, which didn't make sense to her. Justin was a much better wizard than she was, and it always pained her to admit that. She would have thought that he wouldn't have been as affected by the aftermath of the spell as quickly as she might have, and though Alex teased him all the time, Justin had never ever been so mean in return. This wasn't even mean, it was almost cruel what he said. "Come on, guys. We need to get inside."

"After you," Justin said, putting an arm around Harper's waist. This made the redhead giggle as they walked into the building together. Justin looked behind them at Alex and smirked. "Coming Sis?"

"Yes," was all Alex would allow herself to say as she picked up Harper's backpack and walked behind them inside. She was lucky when the bell rang and Justin was told to put his guitar away. He did so, reluctantly, and he sent a flirtatious wave to Harper before he walked to his first class, ignoring the call after him to remove his sunglasses. Alex went to her locker and shoved her backpack inside forcefully.

"I like Justin," Harper said with a dreamy sigh. Alex bit off her retort to go marry him then, but it was such a comment that had Harper in Justin's room dressed as a bride to begin with.

"Yeah, he's a stud alright," Alex said sarcastically.

"He is, isn't he?" Harper asked. Alex rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut.

"Detention, Russo! Now, giddy up to class!"

"Great!" Alex hissed. She walked a couple of steps to her and Harper's first class before she realized that she wasn't being followed, so she backtracked to her best friend and crush, pinched her on the shoulder, ignored her glare, and handed Harper her backpack. "If you're any later to class, they will count you as absent, which will ruin your perfect attendance. Now-"

"Ooh! Come on, let's go!" Harper said, dragging Alex along this time. Alex had known that this would have gotten Harper moving, and she was correct. She followed her friend, hoping that she didn't run into Justin again that day. Heck, if she were to avoide Justin all week, she wouldn't mind that one bit. In fact, if she never saw 'Big Jerk' again, she would be able to die happy, but she knew that there was still that concert, and at any moment they would get the call from Mr. Hagerty. And when that call came, she would have to practice with him. She shuddered at the thought of how that might go down.

To Be Conitnued...

A/N - Hey, thanks to the three who reviewed so far. Getting the lyrics to match what Alex was saying was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. If anyone has suggestions as to what songs and phrases to use (as long as it will pertain to the story so far, I would appretiate it. Also, Justin is way the heck out of character, but that is supposed to happen. As for Harper, I am having issues getting her character down for some reason. Any suggestions would definately help. Thanks.


	9. Not Ready To Make Nice

Chapter Nine

***Songs used in this chapter are (in order) Sailer by Tracey Chapman (though it is subtle), 'BEEP' by Pussycat Dolls, 'Crazy' by Gnarles Barkley, 'Not Ready To Make Nice' by The Dixie Chicks, 'Okay, You're Right' by 50 Cent, and 'Side Effects' by Mariah Carey. All songs used without permission***

**Note: Because there is light cursing in this part due to song lyrics, I am bumping the rating up to Teen. This chapter is dedicated to my friend Rain for reading this story and commenting, which made me want to write up more for it.**

Alex sighed as she sat in her chair. Never had she felt glad to have detention. Relieved, almost. She had been trying to get away from 'Big Jerk' all day, but wherever she went, it was always someone, usually Harper, who went on about how cool and hot the new Justin was. She hated it, and she hated him. She leaned back in her chair, positioned somewhere in the back. It didn't matter where it was she sat, as whoever ended up running detention would be able to spot her faster than any Where's Waldo? book. Alex didn't mind that. She shrugged. Anywhere was better than home at the moment. A few people milled into detention, and Alex made quick eye contact with the 'regulars', like Betty, who is always caught smoking in the broken girls' bathroom, Brett the bully, who, Alex suspected, did what he did because he wanted to take the focus away from the fact that he is a little slower than most, and Remi, the firestarter. She nodded back at Betty after she was given a head nod of acknowledgement, and then started to take out her sketch pad and a charcoal pencil. She was in the middle of drawing Harper's nose after she'd gotten done with the eyes when something made her look up at the door. Her hear sank. "Oh no," she murmured in somewhat a song.

"Quiet," the dungeon master scolded her, and Alex rolled her eyes before looking back at the doorway.

For the first time in Justin's high school career, he had ended up in detention, and on the one day Alex never wanted to see her brother again. When he saw her, he walked to the vacant desk beside her, and Alex fought the urge to yell for him to get the heck away from her, an act that would surely grant her more detention. There was something about the'Big Jerk' that just wasn't there as he set the guitar down carefully against the desk and sat in his chair. He looked more like the Justin she was used to making fun of, and he was quiet. His hair looked as if he had washed it out in the sinks in the bathroom, and his leather jacket was gone. The loosely done tie from this morning had been tightened. Justin looked over at her for a moment and he looked pained. Alex could only stare back, wondering what his problem was. He was finally somewhat popular, he was getting on better than Alex was, and he looked good, almost like he could be a Jonas brother. After situating his backpack and guitar so that they weren't in the way in case of a fire drill or emergency evacuation, he took out one of his notebooks from his backpack and a mechanical pencil from his pocket. He started to write, and then he turned his notebook up so that Alex could see it. What she read there made her laugh.

_"Alex, I'm sorry for how I was this morning," _he'd written. She laughed again, but it was rhythmic, set to a song, as her side effect of song had come back during lunch. If she hadn't gotten detention for singing 'On top of spaghetti all covered in cheese, I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed' as the luch server placed the day's 'special' on her tray, it would have actually been quite funny.

_"Huh huh huh, huh huh huh"_

At this, Justin looked down again in shame, and he continued to write furiously. Alex was sure that if someone had touched the page just then, they would have had a burn. When he held up the notebook again, Alex read, _"I would say it in person, but I cannot seem to speak. One of the side effects?" _

_"C'mon now,_

_Who do you- who do you,_

_Who do you- who do you- _

_Who do you think you are?_

_Ha ha ha, Bless your soul._

_You really think you're in contol?_

_Well, _

_I think you're crazy,_

_I think you're crazy,_

_I think you're crazy_

_Just like me...."_

Alex sang this in a whisper, and though a couple of people stared at her, she didn't care. The teacher looked at her with a warning, but she wanted to get her point across, and she hoped her brother wasn't dim witted enough to not get the 'crazy' reference, which meant the side effects were on her as well. She also was glad that the song verse she sang also, if not metaphorically, told her brother that he was an butthead for acting the way he was. She didn't know of the song to sing that told him how hurt she was and the fact that he had no right to say what he did, enchanted or not.

Justin scribbled out more notes on the notebook, and Alex was surprised to see a tear drop onto the paper and her brother hastily wiping his eyes. He showed it to her again_. "Please Alex. We both know I wasn't myself. You know I would never say any of those things had I been in my right mind. Ever! I know how much Harper means to you."_

Alex wasn't sure she could trust for things to be okay now, especially since her own side affects came back. It could easily come back for Justin as well, and he would just go back to doing the same things under the spell. She motioned for Justin to give her the note book and she began to write out the lyrics to the country song she felt just pop into her head. She refused to let Justin get her in trouble after how he had been that day.

_"Forgive,_

_Sounds good_

_Forget,_

_I'm not sure I could_

_They say time heals everything_

_But I'm still waiting._

_I'm through with doubt_

_There's nothing left to figure out_

_I've paid a price, and I'll keep paying_

_I'm not ready to make nice_

_I'm not ready to back down_

_Still mad as hell and I don't have time _

_To go 'round and 'round and 'round_

_It's to late to make it right_

_Probably wouldn't if I could_

_Cause I'm mad as hell_

_And can't bring myself_

_To do what it is you think I should"_

When she gave it back to Justin, she watched his eyes read the words. Before he could look up at her with his sad eyes, she went back to sketching Harper's nose and lips before her heart started to ache and she could no longer work on it. 'I'd do homework, but I don't read,' she thought to herself as she let the rest of the song run through her head. Though it was country and she usually hated country music with a passion, she liked how angry these lyrics were, how they packed a punch and said almost exactly what she felt, except for the bridge part.

Alex continued to ignore Justin the rest of detention, and afterwards, she walked home by herself, as Harper walked home an hour and a half earlier with Max. She could still feel Justin behind her, probably with his guitar over his back and his head down. If Alex were honest with herself, she wanted to forgive her brother, but she told herself during that time in detention that she wouldn't until after the spell wore off. That way, if his side effects came back and he was mean again, she could keep her anger until the end of the concert and when the spell was gone, he could apologise for all of it at the same time. They won't be going around in a vicious cycle together, one that she refused to admit she started by placing the spell to begin with.

When they got into the door, Max practically ran over them with his yellow hat in hand and a glitter in his eye. "They called!! We're in the next round!"

Alex raised an eyebrow as she nodded, hoping Max might get that she already knew this.

"I know we already guessed that because of your spell, but getting the news from the owner himself made it so exciting!" He placed his hat on his head and asked, "So, when's practice?" Alex frowned, willing her eyes to not flicker angrily to the oldest of the three. "Remember? You get to pick the song this time, and we have the time to practice it. I can even take up your drumset and keep the beat like I did with the tambarine."

Alex shook her head and started to walk up to her room. Justin grabbed Alex's arm, and by reflex, she yanked it away, not that she needed to, since Justin let go as soon as she turned to him. He took out his notebook again and began to write.

_"Isn't that song you want to sing to Harper something we don't know yet? We need all the practice we can get. She needs to hear you, and it needs to be perfect when she does."_

Alex read his words and ripped the page up, throwing it in the trash just to rile her brother, the avid recycler.

_"Okay okay okay okay._

_Okay, Alright,_

_Okay, you're right..."_

She sang this with a huff. She was glad that the song was already hiphop, so it allowed her that edge. She turned to Max, but she couldn't find a song that conveyed that her and Justin both couldn't speak correctly. "Why aren't you guys talking to me?" Max asked.

_"Still little depressed inside, _

_I fake a smile and deal with the side effects  
(Oh, oh)  
Side effects (Oh, oh) _

Alex was surprised that there was a song called Side Effects, which was by Mariah Carey, and it sounded pretty good to her from what she could hear of it in her head. The only positive to the side effect was that her mind became a human music database, but it was otherwise annoying.

"Ohhhh," Max let out slowly. "So, you're still singing everything you have to say, and Justin lost his voice?" Alex and Justin both nodded, then Justin wrote furiously on the notebook.

_"We can still listen to the music and look up the lyrics to the song Alex wants to do online, then we can practice playing by ear. Getting the lyrics down should be the easiest part, and we can do that when our voices are back to normal."_

Max smiled brightly. "We're so getting those doughnuts," he said. He fixed the yellow singing hat on his head, and smiled. Justin nodded, but his look told the youngest Russo that he wasn't so sure. Even so, all three of them went up to Justin's room, where they looked up Harper's favorite song, 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', and through hand miming and short song bursts, Alex was able to tell them that the version the redhead loved the most was covered by the Irish sibling band, the Corrs. It turned out that Justin already knew the song somewhat as he tried to sing it once to woo a girl. (It didn't work.) He knew most of the lyrics and some of the guitar from the Everly Brothers' version, but found they were slightly different with the Corrs' cover. It didn't really matter, since his fingers played on their own once the guitar was in his hands.

The Russo children practiced, mostly trying to keep Max on the rhythem with both of his older siblings, but by the end of the night before bedtime, they were able to succeed in staying in tune with eachother. They sounded like a karaoke track for the song, and their mother took advantage of this by jumping in on it. None of the Russos knew that her mother loved this cover of the song and knew it well. Still, having her singing and swaying with their father to the song made the practice a little more fun, if not embaressing, and seeing someone up and singing made them aware of the concert. That night as they seperated for bed, the Russos felt united again, however, once Alex was in her bed, she still felt strange about this whole thing. She didn't want to, but she started to think about the words Justin had said to her about Harper being straight. Harper might always be in love with Justin. She remembered meeting future Harper, and she saw how she acted then. Maybe this wouldn't work. Maybe Harper will only see Justin like she always did, and Alex would just have to get over it. Alex buried her face in her pillow and let the fresh tears that had come to her fall.


	10. It's Not A Date

Chapter 10

The next morning, Justin, obviously still wracked with guilt, met Alex in the hallway at the bathroom. He gave a gesture of ladies first, and then turned back to his room. Alex gave him a look, but he said nothing to her, and she to him. She was still unsure how to feel toward him since the night before, but she didn't yet feel completely ready to forgive him. Alex was sure that her brother knew this, which was why he was being so nice at the moment. She wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for hot water, so she quickened her pace before Max woke up. Considering the fact that he needed to be dragged out of bed by a pack of wolves (or Jerry), she figured she had some time before that happened. She swore that Max learned to adapt to cold showers, and that yesterday's hot shower probably surprised the boy. She sighed with relief as the first spray hit her back and shoulders. She knew that today she would invite Harper to go to the second round's concert, and though she knew that Harper would be glad to go, Alex wasn't sure how she was going to ask her. She felt some nervousness in asking, knowing why she really wanted Harper there. She quickened her pace, making her total time showering and getting dressed to twenty minutes. Justin was making an effort to be nice, so she should at least do that for him. On her way out, she knocked on Justins's door and called, "Your turn," before turning to get to her own room, where she placed the towel in her clothes hamper and got her backpack. Then she went downstairs.

Being first in the shower, meant first dibs on anything from first pick of cereal and milk (especially when they were low), TV or internet privileges, since all three of them were supposed to leave the house at the same time, and usually the first one to get ready had to wait for the others. Alex chose to sit on the couch with the magical guitar and play her part of the song. She was glad that she wasn't singing everything she had to say, but she was glad that her voice still sounded good that morning as she played. She heard her mother in the kitchen and looked over at her with a smile when she heard Theresa sing along. "You will be at the concert, won't you mom?" Alex asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything," she replied, and Alex smiled widely upon hearing this answer, delivered without hesitation. As she continued to practice the song, though she didn't really need to, her brothers came down the stairs, ate breakfast as if they hadn't been fed in days, and then the three of them went downstairs to the Sub Station, where Harper waited for them just outside.

"Hey," she greeted them. Alex took one look at her crush and couldn't help but to laugh. Apparently, the theme for the day was macaroni and cheese. She had on a necklace that Alex had made for her when they were in kindergarten (which looked pretty broken, and Alex was surprised that it had survived ten years in Harper's room), her blue shirt had the logo for a famous brand of macaroni and cheese, her pants had cheese wedges on them, and her earrings were large macaroni noodles painted orange.

"Where's the cheese and mouse hat?" Alex asked. She hoped for that glint in Harper's eye that would start up their hat song and dance, but instead, Harper's face scrunched up.

"You don't wanna know," Harper replied with an 'ick' face, and Alex decided to let it be. When Harper was the one saying you didn't want to know, then you REALLY don't want to know.

"I bet your dad barfed in it again, like he did with the purple beanie," Max spoke up. At the additional 'ick' face Harper gave, Max's eyes lit up. "I was right, wasn't I?" There was a nod. "Cool!"

"Ew!" Alex said. She gave Harper a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry that happened to your hat. Maybe after school today we can go see about getting you another one. I think I saw a Mario Brothers hat that would go great with your plumbers outfit you made last weekend."

"Thanks Alex! It would be the perfect thing." Harper said with a large grin, one that Alex couldn't help but to return. When Harper was happy, then Alex was happy.

"And then you could find a pink dress for Alex, and you guys can cosplay as Mario and Princess Peach at this year's Comic Con," Justin added. He looked just as excited by this thought. "Ooh, and I can go as Luigi!"

"Com-a-what?" Alex asked. She raised an eyebrow at her brother.

"Nevermind," Justin said in somewhat of a groan, as if he wasn't sure why he even tried to speak to normal people. Surely Zeke would be on board as soon as he told him about the idea. Justin smiled at Alex quickly, and then he grabbed Max's arm. "Come on, Max, I think I saw some road kill yesterday after school. You wanna go see if it's still there?"

"YEAH!" Max said excitedly. He began to walk faster after Justin.

"Ask her," Justin said behind him as he got in front of the pack with Max, and the two jogged away.

"Ask me what?" Harper wondered. She took Alex's arm suddenly, and the Russo daughter jumped form the contact.

"Oh, well, I was going to tell you that we got the call last night. My brothers and I made it to the second round," Alex told her best friend. Harper stopped walking for a second, and Alex did too. The redhead looked at her with excitement on her face. Suddenly her left side was covered in macaroni glory as Harper hugged her.

"Oh my gosh, that is so great!!"

"Yeah, the concert with the 25 finallists will be this Saturday, and I would love it if you could make it."

"Of course I'll be there. Just tell me where it is."

"If the weather is good, I was told it would be held in the park for the whole day. We will get an email by then for what the order of the performances are." Harper nodded as she listened to this.

"I can't wait. In that video, you guys were so good. Wait!" Harper looked to Alex, scrutenizing her.

"What?" Alex asked, as Harper had forced them to stop once more.

"You guys aren't using," she looked around both ways, her eyes wild and accusing, "M-A-G-I-C to be good, are you?"

"One incy wincy spell and everyone jumps on you-"

"Alex," Harper said in almost a whine, "I'm not a-" she looked around again, "W-I-Z-"

"Okay enough with the spelling, it makes my brain hurt. If I don't read, do you really think I spell?" At Harper's look, Alex added, "Okay, NOT the kind of spell I meant and you know that!" she hissed.

"Still, I'm a human and even I know that you're going to get some backlash from it soon."

"Yeah, remember lunch yesterday? Hello, backlash."

"Alex," Harper whined again.

"Look, we are dealing with it, Harper."

"Well, if you hadn't done it in the first place, you wouldn't have to deal with it," the redhead said matter of factly.

"Yes, MOM," Alex shot back. Harper gave her another look, and then the two girls broke out laughing. They continued to school, their pace quickening, as they were almost late, and when they got to the enterance, they saw Max and Justin waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Max asked.

"Oh, we were just talking girl talk," Alex said.

"Justin lied about the roadkill. He said you might be talking about girly things and wanted to save me from it. Anyway, I gotta go. See you all after school," he said when he saw his friend, the new guy Frances, who Max was convinced was the coolest guy on the entire planet, though everyone else just thought he was weird. Alex never made any comment on him, since her own best friend and crush was a giant macaroni noodle.

"I've got to go in now, too. I wanna tell Zeke about Cosmic Con and see if his connections could get ahold of one of the supposedly sold out tickets." Justin made a half wave to his sister and Harper, and he was gone. The two girls walked inside to their joined lockers and put their bags away, getting the books they would need for their first class. They shared a parting wave before they went in seperate directions.

Alex and Harper walked along the left side of the mall's walk traffic as they made their way to Harper's favorite store, where the red Mario hat was. If she got this, she would complete her plumber's outfit or her Nintendo outfit that she had at home already. Alex had called her mother after school for permission to go, and with Harper's parents figuring that the redhead was with Alex anyway, the two of them were clear to go. Smells of warm cinnamon and cookies filled the air as the best friends got closer and closer to the foodcourt. On the way, Alex's phone made its own special noise telling her that she got an update from the dollar theater.

"Hey, they are playing that Chipmunk movie that you wanted to see but couldn't. You wanna go?" Alex asked.

"What time?" Harper asked hopefully.

"The next one is at 4:45."

"If we get that one, it would be out by 7, and the last train back to Waverly Place from here is at 4:00. We'll make it. Ask your mom, because, you know, you'll be missing dinner and everything."

"With the junk we'll be eating at the theater, we won't have to worry about getting hungry later." They shared a smile, and as Alex called her mother, Harper looked around for the hat. It didn't take long, but when she held it up to Alex and received a thumbs up, she walked around the racks. She saw a shirt that she could work with as a special outfit to wear to Waverly Park on the day of the second round. Something that says 'Go Russos'. With Harper, that could be quite litterally. "We're all set. I told her that we were gonna pick up fast food on the way home."

"My treat," Harper said.

"What? Why?"

"Because after I buy this hat and this shirt, I won't have enough allowance left to buy my ticket and share of theater food." Harper said, her head going down a little bit. Alex looked at the items that had been held up to her as Harper spoke of them, and she let one of her eyebrows raise.

"I see what you're doing, you sneaky friend of mine. I pay for the expensive theater treats while you pay for the one dollar cheeseburgers."

"Oh, you konw that I will be buying your coffee when your allowence gets taken away for using magic like you always do," Harper replied. She then looked down, stuck out her lip and then looked pitifully at Alex. "Please? Pretty please?"

"Alright, its a date! Enough with the puppydog eyes, already!" Alex said, her stomach churning just a little bit. She knew she would never be a good advidsary to Harper's sad looks, and they both knew it. It wasn't as if the redhead used it a lot to manipulate people into getting her way, but when she did, boy, there was no winning. Harper laughed. "So, what is what shirt going to be used for?" Alex asked, pointing to the black shirt with a blue pointed hat with stars on it.

"You'll see," was all Harper said in reply as she left to go pay for her clothes. Alex wasn't sure if she should be worried or not. Harper's heart was always in the right place, but when she made clothes for any of them, she often felt a little bad because she never ended up wearing any of it. When Harper got back, she dangled her bag over her wrist and took Alex's arm with the one that was free. Together the best friends walked quickly out of the mall before they got too distracted by the music store and the jewelry shop, both of which tempted them to spend all of their allowences in one go. By the time the made it to the main enterances, they were practically running. They just barely made their train and they talked about school mostly, and Harper turned, holding steady to the subway's hold bar and asked, "So, have you heard much from Dean?"

At this, Alex stiffened a little bit, and Harper's look asked what was the matter. "Sorry, I..." Alex looked down at her shoes guiltiy. "I've kinda forgotten all about him," she atmitted. Harper didn't say anything for a moment.

"Well... I guess that's fair, since you broke up and all. I thought maybe you would still be friends."

"It is hard to be," Alex sais slowly. "Our whole relationship was pretty awkward, and... I wonder now if I ever really loved him."

Harper gasped. But you were together longer than any couple I have ever known," she protested. Alex could only shrug to this.

"I don't know, I mean... The way I feel for someone now, and the way I have felt for a while... It is so different from that. It felt more... More." Alex said.

"Wait, you like someone now?! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I don't know how."

"What do you mean you don't konw how?" Harper siad, her voice got louder by the word, and Alex was forced to shush her. In a lower voice, Harper said, "It's easy. You open your mouth and say 'Harper, I have a crush on So and So, now help me win him over' like we always do!"

"I promise you that as soon as I feel ready to aproach... the subject, I will, but for right now..." Alex said. She looked at Harper, hoping her friend wouldn't get mad for not shaoring this bit of information with her.

"Alright. You keep this secret, but I will find out and we WILL woo him!" Harper said, her eyes widening as she balled her fist in front of her in determination. She got a couple of stares, but she didn't notice, as she never seemed to, and Alex smiled weakly. 'If only you knew,' Alex thought to herself.

About ten minutes later, the two friends ran from the subway station to the one dollar theater arm in arm, pushing past a couple of people and yelling apologies behind them. They made it with a little more than five minutes to spare, and Alex paid for the tickets, a medium bag of popcorn, a box of Milk Duds for Harper's new dress project and a bag of Reeces Peices and soda for them to share, the two of them made it inside and watched the previews to movies that had just passed in the theaters but will be new to this one, and Harper nudged her once to show that she wanted to see the newest romantic comedy, but Alex could never go because she was always grounded. Alex looked over at Harper with a 'Look', but there was a shine to her eyes that made Alex smile at her. When their eyes met, she nodded, letting her friend know that as soon as that movie came out to this theater, she would take her to it. She remembered when they used to always go every weekend, but then the magic had taken over the household and she had to keep that secret from her and they had to skip due to magic school. She hoped they could get back to seeing more movies together, as when she was yuonger it was something Alex always looked forward to.

About the half hour mark of the movie, not long after Alvin had been able to convince Dave that they should be kept, Alex reached into the popcorn bag at the same time, and she paused when she felt Harper's hand there. She took in a deep breath as her heart pumped in her chest, and her fingers curled a little bit around Harper's without thinking. There was a small nudge and the trance was broken. Alex ripped her hand from the bag and she then poured a small amount of the Reece's Peices into her hand. She then looked at the screen, not seeing anything that was going on for a little while. She soon got over her embaressement and focused on the movie, letting herself laugh at her favorite parts.

"Don'tcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me... Well, that is the only part I know," Harper said, which made Alex laughed. She handed Harper the fry box and the redhead took it. She dumped the last of the fries in her mouth, and she chewed happily. The two made it towards the Waverly Sub station, and they stood together for a moment in silence. Alex looked at her best friend, seeing the glitter in her eyes, the orange lipsticked smile, and the happy freckles on her face, and she swallowed nervously. She couldn't stop the thought that it felt like a date, but she heard, "I have a great time!" from Harper, and that just added to it. Alex smiled back at Harper.

"I did too. I'll... I'll see you at school tomorrow then?" she asked. Harper rose her eyebrows.

"Duh!"

"Good." Alex hesitated and she leaned into the redhead and kissed her on the cheek. Harper leaned back and Alex's cheesk colored. Harper shrugged after a moment, and she kissed Alex on the cheek, which only made her blush deeper.

"Goodnight!"

"Goonight." Alex answered. Harper walked away, and then a couple minutes later, when the redhead was out of sight, Alex sighed and walked inside. As she walked through the sandwhich shop, she sighed, which ended in a growl. "God, I'm hopeless!"


	11. When ZZTop ate the Doodlebops

All I have to do is Dream

Chapter 11

***Spoils a little bit of Wizards on Deck with Hanna Montana, but not a lot.**

A low, masculine grunt could be heard fairly early on Saturday morning in the Russo household. Slowly, Justin got up, rubbed his eyes and swung his legs around to the edge of the bed, where he got up and felt his way to the door of his room and out the hallway. His eyes felt heavy with sleep and were tightly lidded as he made is way slowly towards the bathroom. There, at the door, he met a figure that he thought at first to be Cousin It from the Addams Family, but as he forced his eyes open, they became wide. He recognized the small amount of Alex's skin that had been allowed for her eyes, but everywhere else was covered in hair. Her brunette hair was the same, as before, and if Justin didn't know better, he would swear she took some of that hair and placed it on her face, as it looked just as soft and fine as the rest of it. She had a full beard that draped her neck and only ended at her chest. Her moustache was thick, blending into her sideburns and around her lips to her beard.

A scream from Alex woke him up completely. "Alex?" he asked, concerned, but she only screamed again.

"JUSTIN!" she cried.

"What? I'm right here. You don't have to yell," he said in somewhat of a protest, his voice calm in hopes of getting his sister to calm down. Though he knew it would only make things worse, he asked, "What's with the beard?"

"Beard?" As she repeated this word, Alex seemed to go pale. Slowly, her eyes wide and afraid, she brought her hand to her face, felt the smooth hair there, and she screamed again. Alex pointed to herself, then to Justin, and then back at herself. "I - bu - I - wha-? JUSTIN!!" she got out finally, doing a perfect impersonation of their father. At this, Justin felt bad, and he walked a couple of steps towards his sister.

"It's okay. It is just the aftermath of the-" He put both hands on Alex's shoulders and then he looked down. His hand was purple. He brought his own hands up to his eyes, now that he was fully awake. With his own eyes wide and scared, he touched his own face, and the siblings really did look related. Suddenly, the two screamed in unison, and after about a ten second burst, they stopped at the same time.

"I didn't even feel it. I didn't think..." Alex trailed off, catching her breath.

"Neither did I. You would have thought that we would have noticed something when we left our rooms, right? I mean, even YOU'RE not that oblivious," Justin said. This earned him a glare.

"I don't know, my eyes felt so groggy and covered in sleepy crud."

"Mine too," Justin agreed. "I wonder if that is part of the spell, too." He wiped his eyes to get the sleep from them, and after a moment, Alex followed suit.

Justin tried not to remember his time on the SS Tipton and failed. He shuddered at the memory, and then looked around when another door opened up, revealing Max in his MaxiMan costume, which he had converted into pajamas. He looked at both his older brother and sister.

"Whoa!" he let out, his voice full of amazement and wonder, as if maybe he hadn't completely awakened from his dream. After a quick hesitation, he said, "Alright, don't panic." Both Justin and Alex looked at him as if he was crazy. And not in the usual, 'my little brother is weird' type of way, but more in a common 'what the heck is he talking about' way that came almost daily. All three knew that it was way past time for panicking.

"How could we not be panicking right now?" Alex nearly exploded. "We're supposed to be performing today, and we can't perform looking like this!"

Max took this into consideration, and then held his hands up as if talking to hostile martians, since he was so good with that sort of thing in his dreams. "Okay... Okay. It's no big deal," the youngest Russo said," We could just get some of Dad's clippers to cut the beard 'n' moustache off, and Justin- Maybe I could find more of my face paint and see what I could do about making your skin color look human again."

"Thanks," Justin said bitterly, but it was better than the nothing that Alex and he had come up with in all of their panic, so he felt grateful that Max was thinking that morning.

Max hurried to his parents' room and knocked carefully. "Um, Dad? We've got an issue!" he called.

"What now?" Jerry grumbled as he had gotten out of bed. He had heard the earlier screaming, but he had figured that it was another side affect and to not worry until the kids came and got him. When he heard Justin, he had been slowly getting up out of the bed, but he felt heavier than normal. He could feel the magic on the house at the moment, and he wasn't sure how to feel about its presence. A spell like the one that Alex had cast, if his memory served him right, shouldn't have had so much magic attached to it, even if the spell had been upon his kids for longer than an average spell. He worried even more as a thought came to him, and it made him hurry out into the hall after taking a quick look at his beautiful wife. When Jerry saw the sight before him, he wanted to laugh at both the relief and amusement he felt for seeing them the way they were. He felt relieved that his children weren't zombie-like or trying to kill each other, but the way they both looked made him let out a small chortle of laughter. "I would apologize if you two didn't deserve this," he said after he saw the looks he was receiving from his children.

"If Alex didn't deserve this," Justin corrected, earning himself another glare from his sister.

With a somewhat guilty look on her face, Alex said, "Look, Max has a plan."

"Of course he does, but remember, it's Max. Uh- No offence, son," Jerry finished quickly. Max shrugged his shoulders good naturedly.

"I really do think it will work. Its only shaving the beard off and getting face paint or make up for Justin," he said, letting his father into the plan.

"Hahahee," Alex let out. "You'd look so pretty," she goaded.

"Shut up," Justin shot back.

"Alright, alright..." Jerry cut in, attempting to keep the peace. "Good plan, Max. Let me go get my razor and hair clippers." He looked apologetically at Justin and said, "I hate to do this to you Buddy, but if we can get a basic white or tan paint from somewhere, your mother's makeup IS the only way to get even close to your natural skin color." At this, Alex laughed again. Jerry held up a finger to Alex to silence her.

A couple of minutes later, Jerry came back with a pair of scissors, his promised clippers, shaving cream, a small comb, and a razor. "I'm going to smell like a man by the end of this, Alex groaned, and it was Justin's turn to laugh.

"You'll be taking a shower after this, so you could put on your raspberry sparkle stuff- or whatever that fruity stuff is," Jerry said as he prepped himself to play barber. He looked at his daughter, keeping his laughter just barely at bay, and seemed to ask if she was ready. "Okay, Honey?" Alex took a second, and then she nodded. "Hold still." Jerry got to work then, cutting longer strands along the bottom of the chin.

"You could donate this to Lovely Locks, that charity that makes wigs for cancer patients," Max said, "or you could give it to me."

"What would you do with it?" Justin dared to ask.

"I don't know yet, but it would be cool," the youngest Russo replied in thought. With his MaxiMan 'suit' on, he was feeling bright and handsome at the moment, and he stood in his superhero pose as he thought this over. Justin shook his head and looked back at Alex's progress.

"Well, I guess he is right, though," Justin said slowly. "You could do something good with all that hair." At this, Alex made the smallest of movements, which Justin thought to be possibly a shrug.

Jerry worked for another five minutes with the scissors, and then when he felt sure enough, he took the clippers along his daughter's chin, a concept he never thought he would ever have to consider, and got a closer shave, the hair now becoming stubble. After a few more minutes of this, Jerry finished his work. However, just when he was about to grab the razor to get rid of the stubble completely, the hair began to grow back, like a downwards beanstalk from the fairytales. It went back to the same length and thickness it had been, as if Jerry had done nothing for his daughter. Alex let out a small scream, but Jerry shushed her. "Oh no," Alex groaned.

Jerry shook his head. "If it is part of the spell as one of the side affects, until it is taken off of you two, there is nothing we can do. But look you guys, there is something else that worries me. When I woke up, I felt this... heaviness."

"I felt that too," Justin agreed.

"Me too," Max said as Alex only nodded.

"This isn't good. I need you guys to be careful and very aware of what you feel and how you deal with your emotions. Some spells can take its energy from a wizard after a certain amount of time, and not only wizards, but the people around that wizard. It would feed mostly on emotions and would take affect on objects if the emotions are let out in spurts or with force- Say, you hit a wall or punch somebody because you're angry. The magic from the spell will fly away from your body and do something... I don't even know what it might do. Uncontrolled magic like that leads to nothing good, you understand?" Alex, Max and Justin all nodded. "Be careful what you're feeling and how you express it. I'm not saying remain emotionless, but I am just saying to stay aware."

It took a moment for what her father said to fully reach the middle Russo, and Alex had to ask, "But how come we've never heard of this before? Why is this sort of thing happening now?"

"Wizards know to stay clear of spells that enchant them for more than a couple of days, or if the spell was anything like this one, they would only need to use it for one performance. Other wizards have no choice, as it is a curse put on them from someone else. Since the spell on you lasts for as long as the competition does, you have had it on for almost a full week now."

"Are we in danger?" Justin asked.

"Not if you can keep your emotion under control."

Justin couldn't keep his eyes from flickering to Alex. If they sang this song to Harper and Harper rejected his sister while they are still in the competition, they might get a good look at what this new side effect might do to nonwizards in the park. Seeing her brother's look on her, she forced her head down. She stared at the brunette of her beard as she said softly, "I'm sorry. You guys. If it was just me, you would be laughing and pointing- 'oh look at Alex, the nut', but I put the spell on you too Justin, without your permission. And now we might put other in-"

Justin took pity on his sister and put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. We will get through this together. We always do." Max nodded.

"Yeah," the youngest added in. Alex nodded back to her brother and then looked at the clock.

"Come on you guys, we gotta hurry if we want to get there to sign up and find a good spot to settle for the afternoon." The boys nodded and Jerry's right half of his mouth curved into half of a smile at the sight of his children cooperating with each other for once.

***

About an hour and a half later, Alex, Max and Justin all stood near the door as they readied themselves to leave the Sub Station. All three of them had a full head and face of brunette hair, a purple face and hands, sunglasses, leather jackets, different colored shirts, and jeans. Oh yeah, and Max's yellow singing hat. The Russos stood appraising each other as they waited for Harper, wondering if she would even recognize them. Alex almost felt as if she should have a cigarette in on hand and a bike beneath her as she looked around and gave back all the strange stares she received. When Harper finally walked towards them and was about to walking into the Sub Station to wait for them, she gave the smallest of looks to them, and then opened the door. "Harper!" Alex called out to her, even though she wasn't more than fifteen feet away from them. The redhead stopped and slowly looked at the strange trio with a small frown on her face. Alex recognized that look. It was the look that clearly said 'I'm about to get out my mace so start talking and fast, buddy!' Alex wanted to laugh at this. If Harper of anyone thought you were strange at all, then it must be true. "Harper! It's me! Alex!"

"And me!" Justin added.

"And me!" Max cut in. He did some sort of movement with his hands- 'Jazz Hands' as Alex thought it.

"You guys? What's going on?" Harper asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Um- this is our costume!" Alex said brightly.

"Really? I didn't know people where dressing up for the second round!" Harper said quickly, "Really, you should have come to me. I would have made you costumes if you'd have just asked!"

"No no, it was a last minute thing," Alex said to ease the slight hurt she saw on her best friend's face.

"Oh. Okay. This one _did_ take me a good part of the night last night to make, so I don't know how much I would have gotten done on yours last night if you'd asked then." She pointed to herself while twirling some, and Alex got a good look at her friend and love interest's handmade outfit. The middle Russo didn't know what the theme to this outfit was when normally it was obvious. This puzzled her. Harper was wearing the Mario hat from the mall, but she had altered it so that there was also a J and an A there next to it, spelling out J-A-M. She also had the shirt with the blue pointed hat, but there were many patches and glued/glittered shapes all around both the shirt and her ripped jeans. There was anything from frogs and cats to baseball bats, and Alex was even sure there was a drawing in glue of a pair of men's' underwear with the letter M on it. On the sleeves were drawn dice and chess pieces, an alien face, a drum set, a guitar, a paintbrush, and a cowboy hat. The fact that none of this connected together made Alex wonder what Harper had in mind as she made the outfit. Seeing Alex's gaze, Harper explained, "I know, it looks weird," she said as she pointed to her hat, "Nobody really knows what this means, but- I tried to find something that said 'Go Russos' on it, but all I could think to do was put your initials on the hat. And then I realized that I spelled out the word J-A-M when I put your initials oldest to youngest. I guess most might think you know- jam to the music or whatever but..."

Justin smiled at this and said, "OR, if you were to have put our names from youngest to oldest, we would have spelled out M-A-J, which is the... -Well, its missing an E, but a Maje is a higher up title of authority, like a king or a leader for the alien race the Kazon on Star Trek: Voyager." Alex looked over at him and saw that his eyes seemed a little glittery from excitement over the very thought of the geeky tidbit of trivia. When she looked to Harper, she saw that she too looked excited by this; even though Alex was dead sure that Harper didn't even know what the heck Justin was talking about.

"Yeeeeah," Alex said slowly, "are we ready to go?"

"Oh- Yeah! I was just waiting on you, but I didn't even know that was you at first. When you called to me, I was about to get my mace." Harper admitted.

"So I saw," Alex said with a smile.

"I mean, you guys look like ZZ Top," Harper tried to explain. Alex rolled her eyes, because that was exactly what their father had said right before they left the house.

"Yeah," Max spoke up, "if they'd eaten the Doodlebops for breakfast."

Alex looked over at her younger brother with slight surprise on her face. Then she laughed. "There might be hope for you yet!"

Slowly, as if still unsure it was really her, Harper hooked her arm with Alex's and when the middle Russo looked at her, she asked, "Is this part of your spell?"

"You don't have to whisper, Harper. There is no one else around." Alex told the redhead. It was oddly true. Everyone who was up and not running a business that day was either still in bed or at Waverly Park already.

"C'mon, we're in the place that never sleeps. I am just trying to hide your secret even if you don't seem to want to," Harper replied.

"Alright, alright." Alex conceded. "And yes, this is a part of it. I mean, not Max, he just wanted to wear the purple." As they walked arm in arm behind Justin and Max, who were talking about how good they were going to be in the second round, Alex explained what had happened that morning, from her waking up to find her brother all purple without knowing she herself was changed, to learning that their emotions might affect the non wizard population.

Harper held back her laughter until the very end of it like a true friend, but she seemed to marvel at the fact that it was Max who had all the bright ideas that morning. "I know! It boggled my mind too!"

"And wasn't that a somewhat intelligent joke he told earlier too?" Harper asked.

"Yes!" The two of them looked at each other as they began to laugh, mostly at the absurdity of it all.

"My purple ears are burning!" Max announced in front of them, "that must mean you guys are talking about me!"

"Just talking smack as usual," Alex replied, but her voice was amused, so Max didn't take any offence. Max never really took offence even if Alex had meant it, mostly because he didn't understand the insult. Alex could tell that Max was happy to be able to use the purple face paint, and though it was slightly itchy, he enjoyed having the illusion of facial hair, if only for a day.

Being still morning, there were still the Park's usual amount of people there, dog walkers and maintenance personnel, walking around on the still dewy grass. There were people walking in and out of the trails, and on the far side on the largest area of grass was the starts to a stage being put up. With one hand holding on to both the guitar handle and the holder for the enchanted microphone, and the other jutted out for Harper's grasp, Alex walked after Justin towards the sign up table in an attempt to get a schedule and a decent spot on the band's line up. As Justin signed in for 'Just the Russos', Alex began to feel the nervousness settle in. This was it. Whenever they were to get up on stage and sing, Alex would be telling Harper what was in her soul. She wasn't sure if Harper would get the message at all, but Alex was scared of the outcome of if Harper did, if she did, and didn't want to be her friend anymore.

Alex?" Harper asked, which made the middle Russo start. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Harper," she replied, a little too quickly. She knew that her friend didn't believe her but gave her a sympathetic smile.

"You're nervous. I get it. You'll all do fine!" Harper encouraged her. She led them after Justin as he found them a spot. Alex was glad that they had brought a large blanket with them, and she watched as Max spread it out. In the background, she heard someone call out to them. Whether they were encouraging the 'costumes' or making fun of them was unknown to her, but she saw Justin wave back at them before he sat down.

Max was shaking around his tambourine, one that he had broken a while ago when he sabotaged his things to keep Alex from doing it, and had been given special permission to repair it with magic. Alex looked around as people started coming in more and more. They hung out with Harper on the blanket, and Jerry had come by quickly with a large bag of food for lunch. Not long after their father had left, Justin was called up to the sign in table, and he saw the sheet of paper that told them what order the bands were playing in. Alex couldn't tell what emotion was on her brother's face when he had come back. "We're number nineteen, you guys," he announced to them. "That means that we won't play first and then be forgotten, but it also means that we won't be expected to give the big finish. However, since there are eighteen bands before us, we will have to find a way to not bore the audience and the judges. That will be hard considering our song, but I think we can try and make it work. From what I understand, after this, we are all going to have the last two bands play their song tonight at the coffee shop. Do we know what song we'll play for that?"

"Um... no," Alex responded. Harper's eyes almost fell out of the sockets.

"No?!" she almost squeaked. "How could you not know?!"

"Well, with everything going on, the M-A-G-I-C on top of homework, we only had the time to figure out what is happening- which we still haven't a real clue- and then we barely got down our song for today!" Justin explained.

"Can I hear what you've got so far for this one?" Harper asked.

"No!" Alex said quickly.

"What? Why?"

"I mean... Not yet. I don't want to sing it a lot and get all nervous at the last minute," Alex tried to explain. Harper seemed reluctant to accept this as an answer, but she nodded slowly.

"Alright, but no matter how bad you guys think you are, I'm sure you're a lot better than that."

"Thanks, Harper." Alex said. She was glad that Harper seemed so sure of their abilities with our without magic.

As if to sense this train of thought, Harper added in, "Even though you guys are using... you know, I think that if you entered it without, you would have done well. I remember you telling me about the time you and Justin had performed in the Sub Shop and how good you were. I really wish I could have been there." Alex smiled again. "But... since... Since you are using... you know... You can't win tonight. It wouldn't be right."

"We know. We just want to get to the final round. For Max so he can get his doughnuts." Alex said, which was partially the truth. Harper looked at Max who was playing with someone's dog, and smiled.

"Alright. For Max and the doughnuts," Harper replied.


	12. Wake Up

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 12

As Alex, Justin and Max all sat on the blanket with Harper, they spoke about the bands that were playing, and they would talk every now and again to those around them about music and the competition. As the bands began to play at one that afternoon, Alex could hear how long they had practiced their original songs. She heard the stories of some of the bands, where they had been, where they played gigs. She was just a 16 year old with a beard! Alex began to get a little nervous as the first band played. She could see a couple of moments when the first band, introduced as 'Fusion of Forever', start to fidget and get their notes wrong. The same thing happened with the second band, and the third. Justin frowned at this. "What is happening?! I heard them practice earlier. They are really good. Good enough to beat us with their pinkies!"

"Dad said that thing about our emotions," Alex said softly.

"Are you getting nervous?" Justin said, crawling over Max to sit next to Alex so they could speak a little bit more in private.

Alex's eyes flickered to Harper, who had fallen asleep on the blanket and was using a balled up end of it as a pillow, and nodded. "I'm terrified," she admitted.

"We have to really keep control over these emotions, Alex," Justin whispered. "I know that you're anxious to get to our turn so you don't have to wait to tell Harper how you feel in the song, but if you're jittery, then so will everyone else be. As it is, we aren't playing in this competition fairly. Your nervousness may have cost those three bands their rightful shot."

At this, Alex's eyes tear up, and Justin looked up to see a couple of people starting to cry. "I'm sorry," Alex said in a choked voice.

Justin wasn't trying to make his sister feel bad about what was going on. He wanted to help her keep in mind that their emotions affect everyone else because of the spell. He knew that she was apologizing for much more than emotions, than causing the spell. It was almost as if she was sorry she ever fell in love with Harper. Justin wasn't sure he understood it, but he loved his sister, and being with Harper seemed to be the one thing that made her happy outside of her art and generally tormenting him. In fact, anything that took Alex away from playing pranks and tormenting him was a plus. Justin offered a smile and was about to say something to this when his cell phone rang. Looking at the display, Justin saw a picture of their father in his apron holding a sub sandwich with a smile almost as long. He flipped his phone and answered the call. "Yeah Dad," he greeted.

"Justin, look I wanted to call you and see what you, Alex and Max wanted on your sandwiches."

" Turkey , mustard, mayo, lettuce and tomato please." Justin could hear the scratchy sound of a pen to paper.

"Alright. Alex would want PB and J, and Max?" Jerry asked.

Justin looked around for his younger brother and frowned in confusion. "Where's Max?" Justin asked when he caught Alex's eye.

"Last I saw he was using his tambourine as a Frisbee with that dog he was playing with. I don't know where he went." Alex replied. For the second time in just a couple of minutes, Justin closed his mouth before saying what he really had in mind to say.

He tipped his chin so that he was talking in the phone again. "I don't know where Max is. Just put uh- crunchy peanut butter, mayonnaise and pickles on some bread and call it good."

"I would say Ew if I didn't know that was true," Jerry said, "but I will say it anyway. Ew." there was more scribbling. "Doritos okay?"

"Sounds fine. We all like them," Justin said.

"Anything else before I leave the house?"

"I was wondering if you could bring one of the books stacked on my desk? Any one of them will do, as I haven't read them yet. It is a long wait in between songs." Justin looked at Alex and said, "Do you want Dad to bring you your sketchbook?" When he got a nod in return, he said, "And Alex's sketchpad."

"What about Max?"

"Uh... I think he's found a way to entertain himself already."

"I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing," Jerry said somewhat solemnly.

"I tend to just let him have at it and deal with the repercussions later," Justin said.

"Which could be dangerous because he won't learn from it," Jerry said. "Anyway, I have a few customers, but I will shut down the shop for an hour to bring you your lunches."

"Why can't Mom watch the shop?"

"She... She still hasn't gotten out of bed," Jerry admitted.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with what we discussed this morning, but I don't want you to worry about it for the very same reason. I'm sure she's just tired and will wake up later wondering where the day went." When Justin didn't say anything, Jerry insisted, "Don't worry about it, a-and don't tell your sister- or Max."

"Alright."

"I will be there soon with your lunches."

"Pack something for Harper too. She's with us."

"I'll make an extra PB and J sandwich for her."

"Alright," Justin said this time. He said goodbye to his father and hung up his cell phone before putting it in his pocket again. He looked over at Alex and shrugged. "Hopefully drawing something might make it so that you don't over think the song." Justin said to her. Alex nodded, leaned over Harper, slowly took off the JAM hat, and ran her fingers through her best friend's hair.

"Mmm, muffin," Harper murmured in her sleep, and Alex cracked a smile at this. People around her began to calm down some, and it seemed like a not so vicious cycle. The more calm she got, the more calm everyone else seemed to be, and the more people seemed to calm down around Alex, the more she would calm down, ect. Eventually, she started seeing people lay down on their blankets or whatever they had for a campout site, and began to sleep, just like Harper.

At about 3 that afternoon, while the eleventh group was playing on stage, Jerry was seen making his way around the blankets and small camp set ups and sat down with a large picnic basket of food. His forehead was creased in his deep worry. Max ran by them, chasing after the dog that had stolen the tambourine and was keeping it away from the thirteen year old because he thought it was a new game, a game it liked much better than fetch.

Alex watched her father as he lay out their food from the basket. He looked worried. "Dad?" she asked tentatively.

"It's nothing," Jerry said quickly at the touch of concern her could hear in Alex's voice. There was a flickered glance to Justin.

"That's a lie," Alex accused, and gave Jerry a look that they all knew he couldn't turn away from.

"It's your mother," Jerry started, unsure if he should tell her right now. Alex scooted closer.

"What about Mom?" she asked, right away worried.

"It could be nothing, but I am still a little concerned," he said. "She's still not waking up, and no matter what I do, nothing works."

"No water on her, nothing?" Alex wondered.

"No," Jerry replied gravely.

"It's the magic," Justin said decisively. There was a small hint of arrogance as he said, "We need to finish this today before anyone else gets hurt."

"No, really?" Alex asked sarcastically, which earned a small sneer from her older brother. Alex glared at him, hoping in her mind that Big J wasn't coming back. Not right now. Alex wasn't sure she could handle that on top of the news she just heard and the fact that they were to perform soon.

"Guys, this doesn't help. At all," Max cut in before Jerry could say anything. He had come back from chasing the dog with the tambourine in his hand. His fingers ran across the wood, feeling the teeth marks the dog left behind. The poor tambourine had been through a lot of abuse, and its main purpose was only brought about when it was being smacked a bunch of times on top of that. So what is going on?" he asked as he knelt down and dug into the food.

Jerry explained what he had told Justin and Alex, wishing he had just decided to tell them all instead of trying to save them the worry. They were old enough to know these things.

Max frowned at this as he thought. "We can't do anything about this until we get on stage and do our thing, alright?"

"Yes," Alex agreed. She picked through the sandwiches in the picnic basket and nudged Harper, who was also asleep. She had been roused from sleep a couple of times, but fell right back to sleep within seconds. "We're taking so much energy from them," she observed after she had given Harper half of the sandwich she was eating. Harper took a bite, but slowly fell asleep while chewing. "Harper? Harper! Wake up!" Alex hissed.

Jerry shook his head. "She's under it, too."

Alex felt tears in her eyes again. She shook her best friend. "I thought she was just tired from staying up all night to make her outfit." In her sleep, Harper's face screwed up and a tear leaked out the side. Alex hurried to dry the tear. "Oh no, Harper!" She forced open her best friend's lips and used her finger to scoop the bite of sandwich out of her mouth, which was really gross considering it was peanut butter and jelly on white bread.

"Calm down, Alex."

"What if she won't wake up when we play?"

"That isn't important now," Justin said. "We have to get this done, and then she'll wake up." Alex shut her mouth for a second, and looked around again. She saw the many people who were also asleep by now. Jerry had heavy eyes, and even the current band on stage, Rain Maker Jr., seemed to be slowing down. The lead guitarist and singer yawned in the middle; stopping his movements long enough to cover his mouth. Everyone after him yawned in sync, and Justin frowned. "I have an idea," he said. "Dad, may I borrow $5 dollars to go to the corner store?"

"Why?" Jerry asked in a groggy voice.

"These people follow us, and right now they need a pick me up. If I go buy a couple of energy drinks for me and Alex, people will wake up and be more alert."

"Good idea." Jerry reached into his pocket and tossed his wallet half heartedly in Justin's direction. Justin pulled out a ten dollar bill and stood to leave. "Get one for Max or he won't shut up about it." Jerry called. Justin nodded and hurried out of the park, while Alex remained to watch over Harper as she slept. Slowly, she took out her sketchbook and unhooked the mechanical pencil that hung from the inside cover, marking her spot on her most recent picture. She turned the page, telling herself she would finish that picture, one of her as part of the Harry Potter cast sans Harry Potter himself, some other time. She looked over at her sleeping friend and began to draw her. As Max ate and Harper and Jerry slept, all that could really be heard around her was the etching of pencil to paper, and she hoped that Justin's plan would work, that he would come back soon.


	13. All I Have To Do Is Dream

All I have to Do Is Dream

Chapter 13

***I don't own the song 'All I Have To Do Is Dream'. The song belongs to the Everly Brothers. The version I use for this chapter is the Corrs' cover featuring Laurent Loulzy. **

Alex felt more and more irritated each time she had to scratch at the face paint. It hadn't been very noticable before, but now it was, especially since it had long ago gotten cakey, and her sweat was starting to turn it into a bit of a paste. Seeing Justin fidget with the facial hair, she saw he was having somewhat the same problem. She couldn't really imagine what it was like for Max, who was running around with both the facial hair and the now pasty purple paint. The three of them had their energy drink almost an hour ago, and the plan had worked. Everyone was awake and moving about, if not a bit jittery. There seemed to be something in the air around them. All three Russos could feel it. If Jerry were still there, he would have felt it as well. The spell seemed, to Alex, heavier and heavier around them, almost to the point where it would soon manifest into a visible mist. Either way, things seemed slightly better as Justin tuned his magical guitar. Band number eighteen, 'Classic Kings', had just gone off stage, and 'Just the Russos' were called on after them. Alex was almost deaf with the howls of applause they got. Justin seemed to beam at the attention, and he bound on stage, waving to the crowd as if he was a rock star who sold out Madison Square Gardens. Before Alex made it to the stage with Max right behind her, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Expecting Harper, she was surprised when she saw that it was Justin's crush, Melissa from the coffee shop across the street from the Sub Station. "Hey, good luck," she said. Alex gave a weak smile.

"Thanks." She looked back again at Max to make sure he was still following her onto the stage, and saw that he was holding tightly to his yellow singing hat in one hand and the tambarine in the other.

"Hello Waverly Park!" Justin said into the set up microphone. The people in the park cheered, and this was the most alive Alex had seen them since even the first night of the competition. Justin puffed up and began strutting across the stage like a peacock with a long brunette beard instead of large tail feathers. Alex rolled her eyes and told herself to just get through the song. Her eyes searched for their blanket, but Harper wasn't there. Instead, Alex caught her friend's eye as she put up the microphone and started to get the guitar situated. As usual, since the spell started, Jusin hardly parted with his guitar, as it was strapped to his back for most of the hour before they got on stage, so he was playing a few chords, which only seemed to make the crowd get a little more rowdy. The three Russos looked at eachother, and Alex leaned towards her microphone before she spoke.

"Thank you," she said shyly. The crowd died out a little bit to hear what Alex had to say. "You know us a little bit. We are 'Just The Russos'. I know there have been a lot of great bands out here this afternoon, and they've really rocked, but um... We've decided to do something... slightly different. This song is going to be a little slower." Alex locked eyes with Harper and was about to speak, but couldn't, as the sight of Harper took her breath away. Refreshed and definately awake, her eyes seemed to glitter in the pride and happiness she felt for her friends, and the Russo daughter could see it.

"This is dedicated to someone very special," Justin cut in, causing Alex to jump out of her trance and look at him, almost horrified. "To the one and only, Harper Finkle." With that, he played the one chord that would start Max's countdown, and Alex didn't have time to get angry or to try and see Harper's reaction to the dedication. She had to ready her fingers to play, even though the spell would pretty much do that for her. Max tapped the tambarine four times and on the fouth count, Alex started to play. After about 6 seconds of the acustic intero, Justin came in with the electric sound, and then the three (four, if you included the yellow singing hat) started to harmonize the song.

Dream

Dream, dream, dream

Dream

Dream dream dream

When I want you, in my arms

When I want you, and all your charms

Whenever I want you

All I have to do

Is dream...

Dream dream dream

When I feel blue, in the night

And I need you, to hold me tight

Whenever I want you

All I have to do

Is dream...

Only now was when Alex found any courage to look out into the audience instead of right in front of her where her gaze had been all this time. Her eyes flickered over some of the bands who played before them, and the other members of the audience. One group, a twenty something band whose name she'd forgotten even had lighters out and were waving them up in the air. Alex saw that there were a couple of other people doing the same thing with their cellphones. That, oddly, made it seem a little less nerve wrecking. When her eyes finally did land on Harper, she was horrified at what she saw. The redhead's eyes were glued to her brother, watching him as he played the lead electric part of the song. For all she knew (and most likely what Justin thought), Alex and Max were his backups. Alex closed her eyes as she fought back any emotion. She needed to get through the song. She needed to find a way to direct the song away from Justin and to her, but how?

I can make you mine

Taste your lips of wine

Anytime, night or day

Only trouble is, gee whiz

I'm dreaming my life away

I need you so, that I could die

I love you so, and that is why

Whenever I want you  
All I have to do

Is Dream...

Dream dream dream

Dream Oooh

As Justin's eyes were locked with Harper's, since he knew he had a number one fan, the spell is allowing that to feed the 'Big J' ego. But as Alex glanced again at her brother, there was something that was... NOT magically altered. The look in his eyes as he sang to her was.... Alex knew that look all too well, and since he was her brother, it almost exactly mirrored her own whenever she looked at was all wrong. Harper was supposed to hear the dedication from Alex! Harper was supposed to look at Alex that way or at least acknowledge her feelings for her, even if the redhead remained straight at the end of it all. At least then Alex really would know, and now it seemed as if she really did know. She knew the truth about her brother and her best friend.

I can make you mine

Taste your lips of wine

Anytime, night or day

Only trouble is, gee whiz

I'm dreaming my life away

This was Justin's part. The part Alex suspected he had waited for since the whole day began, or even the night before when he first heard the song. Justin leaned in a little bit as he began to play the main guitar solo, and Alex was stuck playing the acustic background guitar. People were looking at Justin, adoring him, really, but this song was for Harper, and the only thing that mattered was that Harper adored him. Alex wanted him to choke on all that adoration. If it weren't for the fact that she was magically invested in this competition and this song, she would have missed her que to go back and harmonize with Max, Justin and the yellow singing hat, but her lips forced open and she began to sing before she realized that she was still on stage performing. No one noticed anything, not even her brothers.

I can make you mine

Taste your lips of wine

Anytime, night or day

Only trouble is, gee whiz

I'm dreaming my life away

Even as she sang, a tear fell down her cheek. Her mind was all over the place, but Alex's mouth and vocal chords still worked on automatic, otherwise the lyrics from her lips would have come out airy and even a little shakey. Max was the one who was in the background the most, except for that moment, when he stepped up next to Alex and sang with her. This made her look at him. He gave her a slight smile as his voice carried a little louder, and even more than Alex could hear her own voice or the thoughts in her head, she could hear the harmonies of Max and the yellow singing hat blending in with her own voice.

I need you so, that I could die

I love you so, and that is why

Whenever I want you  
All I have to do

Is Dream...

This, surprisingly, helped Alex, but she still felt the heartache. Max was now shaking the tamborine and hitting it against his chest so that his hand could rest on Alex's left shoulder while his side faced the crowd. He seemed to be watching Justin as well, but there was nothing on his face except for one of his 13 shades of 'Me so hun-gee'.

Dream, dream, dream

Dream...

Dream, dream, dream

Dream...

Dream, dream, dream

Dream...

Dream dream dream

Dream...

Oooh...

Max's hand left Alex's shoulder to continue shaking the tambarine to complete the song. It took a moment for the crowd to figure out that the song was over after Max's final smack of the instrument and Justin's final note blending with Alex's. She had to admit, they sounded great, and if she wasn't so angry about what had just happened and what she had just witnessed, maybe she'd even say it out loud. The crowd came to life again. Howls and whistles could be heard, along with the claps and shouts of 'Yeah! Just the Russos, whoohoo!!'. "Thank you," Alex said again into the microphone, and then she followed Justin down from the stage. She felt pats on her back, heard the comments similar to 'that was so beatuiful' and all sorts of other praise, which she nodded her head to and thanked people for.

"Alex!" Justin called after her. She turned to look at Justin, a shooting glare in her eyes.

"What the heck was that! You knew the plan all along. You knew why we were doing this!"

"Can't blame me for being the likable one. S'just how it goes. Its the busness. Market the popular one." Justin popped his collar as he said this, and Alex couldn't help it this time. She reached back and slapped Justin. It was so hard that the resulting SMACK was heard by people a couple dozen feet away, and Justin's whole body twisted from the impact.

"Of all the people of the world, why did it have to be her?! Why now?!" She didn't wait for an answer as she turned away from him.

"Justin! You okay? What happened?" Alex heard Harper say behind her, but her steps only quickened before Harper could hear the answer and she would have to explain just why she couldn't reign in her anger this time. She hurried away from the crowds and tried to figure out what she was going to do next. Already, people were dying down, getting jittery, but there were people around her that touched their chests or looked as if they were close to tears. Others, as she passed, seemed to get angery at those who were about to cry, yelling at them for being so weak. Before, it took a few seconds before it seemed her or Justin's emotions were mimicked by the other people in the park, but now it was almost instant. She could start to see small whisps of silvery grey leave people's bodies and rise into the air. When Alex followed these whisps, she saw that it joined many, many others in a dark grey cloud that seemed to be centered right above Waverly Park.


	14. The Return of 'Big J'

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 14

Alex wasn't sure where she was going at first. She just knew she had to get out of there. She felt the pain in her chest. She was completely hollow after a while, when the white rage was gone. As she walked, people who seemed completely happy a moment ago had major mood swings. Even the poodles she passed as she crossed the busy street stopped their happy tail wagging and began to whimper. The Russo daughter continued on towards the Waverly Sub Station, where she saw her father. As soon as she opened the door, Jerry's shoulders shook. "Oh Alex. I love your mother so much. I don't know what I'd do if she doesn't wake up."

"Dad, I'm sorry," Alex said, fresh tears falling down her own face at how broken her father was.

"How'm I gonna raise you kids without her?"

"She'll wake up, Dad. She has to. It's the spell. She'll wake up after the last song, I promise." Alex then hurried up the stairs towards her mother's bedside. Theresa lie there, but like Harper, tears leaked out and ran down the side of her face and into her ears. "Mom," Alex murmured. She touched her mother's arm in fear. Theresa gasped.

"Oh!" Theresa said, her breathing coming now in short spurts. "Justin! Mijo!"

At this, Alex reeled back. Her mother was feeling scared because Alex was scared for her mother. But her mother was scared for Justin. Everyone chose Justin over her, and the choice seemed to be an easy one. Alex's anger at her brother came back at full force. "Justin," she said in disgust.

Theresa then began to shout out in Spanish. Now was one of those many times that Alex wished she'd paid attention in Spanish class and actually learned more than 'I need to use the bathroom.' The one thing Alex could understand in her mother's angry ranting was equivalant to 'How DARE you!'

"Now look what you did, Alex!" Jerry, who unknown to Alex had fallowed her inside, yelled. This made his daughter jump. "You're upsetting her!! Its your fault she won't wake up, and now you're torturing her in her sleep!!"

"Daddy?" Alex asked.

"Why'd you have to do this spell, huh?! Why was it so important that you put this whole family- and even the entire wizard world in danger?!?"

"I WANTED HARPER TO FALL IN LOVE WITH ME!!"

"HOW CAN SHE FALL IN LOVE WITH A DISOBEDIENT GIRL LIKE YOU?! YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!!!"

Alex felt her insides go cold as she blinked back tears, but she couldn't hold them back anymore. She sucked in air and then brought her hands to her face. She felt the beard there, and wailed. She hurried past her father and back down the stairs.

"Alex? Alex honey, I didn't mean it! Please! Come back!" Jerry called in a shakey voice, but Alex continued to run away.

Max got to Justin's side, watching as Harper helped him stay standing while he held his cheek. "Where's Alex?" the youngest Russo asked.

"Does it matter? She went crazy and hit me!" Justin said, pointing to his face. "My beautiful face," he moaned. Haper gasped.

"Alex did this?" She asked, skeptically. She'd never known her friend to get violent before.

"Yeah, and then she just... left."

"She had a reason," Max said, his gaze flickering between Justin and Harper. He couldn't say what he wanted to say in front of her. "Hey Harper, could you go to our picnic basket and see if the pop is still cold? Maybe that'll make Justin's cheek feel better."

"Good idea!" Harper's hand went up as if to tell the boys to stay still. As if they really had anywhere to go.

"Oh, and get one for me, please? I'm real thirsty after all that singin' and thinkin' 'bout donuts," Max added.

"Yeah," the redhead replied, bouncing off.

"Thanks Harper! You're a pal!" When she was gone, Max said, "Alex hit you because you stole her dedication to Harper. The only reason why she wanted to do that song was for her. Even I was paying attention long enough to get that. So why did you do it?"

"Because we all know that Harper wanted that song to be from me. Harper loves me," Justin said jutting his thumb at himself. "She's not gay."

"How could you be so mean?" Max asked. "Who cares if Harper wanted the song from you? Alex needed to tell her how she felt for her."

"That doesn't matter. Harper's heart belongs to me. I just saved Alex the humiliation of being shot down terribly. She should be THANKING me!"

"I see now why she hit you," Max said, calmly taking out his wand and pointing it at Justin.

"What're gonna do to me? Pancake me to death? You're too dumb to even pull off a simple cleaning spell, and looking at you half the time, it shows!!" Justin let out a laugh at this. Max's mouth twisted, his face evident of the hurt he felt. He swished and pointed his wand back at Justin.

"Enchantium Nullus!" he said loudly. It was one of the many spells that cancelled the effects of other spells that had been cast, but Max didn't know that Justin and Alex both already tried every single one they each knew. What came next was something that neither Max or Justin expected. A sheild formed around Justin, and the spell bounced off of him and rebounded back at Max, knocking him off of his feet. He landed face first in the grass and groaned.

"Max?" Justin asked. He leaned down and touched his brother. Slowly, after feeling that Max was still breathing, he helped his brother up, who jerked his arm away from him. Justin then saw the red dots under the purple paint start to form on Max's face and hands.

"What-"

"Are those... chicken pox?"

"Not again," Max moaned, scratching in his hair.

"What just happened?" Justin asked.

"I tried to get this spell off of you, and I got the chicken pox instead. Its as if the spell didn't want me to stop it. Ung... so itchy!" Max wailed in annoyance. Justin watched as Max used both hands to scratch at two different areas of his chest and back. He laughed at the fact that his younger brother was now resembling a monkey. "Not funny."

"I beg to differ," Justin said mid-laugh.

Max scowled. "Beg all you want, dog face!" he cried. "I don't know what this spell is doing to you, but I've got to find Alex so we can stop it!"

"Ooh, scared," Justin said, wiggling his fingers as if a spooky ghost. "Good luck with that, Monkey Boy." He put on his most charming smile as Harper got nearer to them. "Thank you very much, Harper. Ooh, that stings," he said pittifully as Harper helped him hold the cold pop to his face.

"Does that feel better at all?" Harper asked, concerned.

"Very much, thank you."

"Poor Justin," Harper said sympathetically. Max rolled his eyes and started to leave the park. The dark brown dog he'd been playing with, the one who stole his tambarine, came up to him with the tail wagging.

"Can't play right now. Gotta find my sister and cure my chicken pox." He began to walk again, only to have the dog follow him. "Go to your master, doggy," Max said in a higher voice, but it ignored him. He looked around for the owner of the dog, the nice blonde woman who'd allowed Max to pet it and play with it in the begiining, but he didn't see her. "Where IS your master?" Max asked, more to himself than to the dog. "I can't just let you run around like this unleashed, but I can't take you with me BECAUSE you're still unleashed. Besides, she's probably looking for you right now, and if I took you out of the park..." Max took a couple of steps and then stopped when the dog followed him once again. "Sit. SIT! Stay... stay... Good dog." Max turned and began to walk, but the dog shot past him, forcing Max to start chasing it. "NO! Bad dog! Come back! Come back!"


	15. The Zabbette's

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 15

The dog stopped at the coffee shop across the street from the Waverly Sub Station. To his left, Max saw his dad in the window, sitting in one of the booths with his head on both of his hands. Max looked at the dog, who just sat down and panted. It then looked to the right, and Max followed its gaze, only to see his sister. He stared at the scene inside the coffee shop, where Alex was sitting at a table, calmly watching the meyhem that was around her. There was a look in her eyes that kind of creeped him out, a look of cold indifference that he often saw in villians of the many superhero TV shows he loved. It was a look that Max couldn't ever remember seeing on Alex. It just didn't fit her usually sunny, yet mischievious personality. It almost chilled him to the bone. He slowly went inside, scratching at his elbow while the other hand touched the door handle. He looked back at the dog, watching as it lay down, as if waiting for Max to get things settled with Alex before they all went back to the park. This was strange to Max, who was wondering what was going on with this dog. It couldn't be as it seemed, a regular, yet smart dog. There had to be something else that Max just wasn't seeing about it. He wondered again where its owner went, and why the dog seemed to show him more loyalty than the woman who owned it. Max told himself that he would figure all that out later, but at the moment he seemed to be the only one thinking at all, let alone clearly, and it seemed it might have been his turn to look smart and save the day. Plus, his family really needed him for once, and he wasn't about to let them down the one time they needed him to be there. He had to get his sister back to Waverly Park. He had to get people to start up the competition so that the last 7 performers could go on stage, and they could play the last round. Only then could the spell be lifted, and only then could things even try to be repaired.

There were clatters and bangs right away as Max opened the door. The people who worked there were screaming at eachother from behind the counter and their back room. Max couldn't tell what all they were saying, but from the Spanish he knew, he could tell that wasn't it, yet some of the words were familiar to him, so he guessed that it was Italian they were shouting in. Max made his way to the table that Alex was at, scratching behind his ear as he went, and even though he was right in front of her, she didn't seem to see him. He sat down across from her, snapped his fingers in front of her face, and then his own face went to about an inch in front of Alex's as he shouted her named three or four times. Once Alex blinked a couple of times and seemed to snap out of it, she realized how close Max was and used her whole hand over his face to push him away. "Gah, get away from me!" she said in annoyance.

"Alex, you need to come back with me to Waverly Park," Max said urgently.

"Why," Alex scoffed, "so I can watch him take Harper away from me?"

"When I left, it was so tense over there. People were starting to argue, and I'm afraid they might start fist fighting. Everyone who's smug like Justin was making all those who were angry like you even angrier. And Justin, Justin's being so mean right now. I understand why you hit 'im, but we have to go back and fix this." Max looked so worried that Alex felt bad for him. Her cold demeaner seemed to soften just a little bit. It wasn't his fault that things were getting so bad. He wasn't the one who put the spell on everyone. He wasn't the one who made her this angry. "No one is singing, Alex. After you left and we got off the stage, everyone started getting edgy again, and I know you saw that dark cloud over the park. I never saw anything like that!"

"Yeah, I saw it." Max's fear made Alex's anger leave completely. The clatters around them lessened, and the people inside moved slower and slower. Still, Max could see the small whisps of energy leaving each person. Inside the coffee shop, another dark cloud formed, this time faster and darker than the one above Waverly Park.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Max said again when he, too, seemed to notice this. Alex nodded, but she was reluctant to face Justin again so soon. She wasn't ready to forgive him, and yet she had a feeling that this was what it would take to get things going again so that they could finish the competition and get rid of the spell. She was willing to try for a temporary truce, but that didn't mean she would forgive him. She just couldn't yet, and she didn't know when she ever could. "I don't want the people here and at the park to be drained completely dry," Max said in a low voice. This got Alex moving. She picked up her coat and put it on.

"Come on, lets go," she said softly. She looked over at her brother, studying him as he scrambled out of his seat. "What are those dots?"

"Chicken pox. I was trying to remove the spell off Justin and it hit me instead with chicken pox."

"We already tried to remove the spell."

"I thought so, but I really just wanted Justin's fat head to shrink. But I don't want this. I can feel the chicken pox between my buttcheeks!

"TMI, bro," Alex said, but she smirked at this. She looked over to the Sub Station and saw their dad. He, too, had whisps of silver coming out of him, and it joined with the cloud above the Subshop, which also had one more constant stream of silver coming from the upstairs. "Mom," Alex said softly, fear in her voice. "Let's bolt," Alex said, and she began to run.

"Yes, lets," Max agreed. He looked to the dog. "Come on, you." The dog scrambled to its feet and started to run at Max's side.

"What's with the dog?" Alex asked when she looked to her side and saw both Max and the canine keeping pace.

"I don't know!!" Max called back in mid-run.

When they got back to Waverly Park, they saw people moving slowly, not unlike the poeple in the coffee shop. Some of them were arguing loudly, threatening to smack the smugness off of the other person's face, while others wept silently or sat down, ready for a nap8. There were bags under everybody's eyes as if they hadn't slept in days. Then, one by one, the people started to fall, dropping like flies. "This is bad," Alex said, "really, really bad. And this is all my fault! These people could die because of me!"

"Its time to make it right," Max said.

"How?" Alex asked, watching as more people fell to the ground, pale and barely breathing now. "I tried to take the spell away, YOU tried to take the spell away, and now there are chicken pox between your butt cheeks!" Max shushed Alex after that announcement, but it wasn't like anyone was awake around them enough to hear it.

"Don't panic. It will only make things worse. Now, I think I have an idea, but we need Justin, as much of a jerk as he is right now." Max placed a hand on Alex's shoulder and his eyes scanned the park, which was easier now that there weren't as many people standing up. He spotted Justin right away.

As the two younger Russos met up with Justin, the oldest said, "Well, if it isn't attack of the lesbos." He laughed at this, and then winced as Max slapped his arm. "Oh, you too Mowgli?" he asked.

"STOP IT!" Max yelled. "Just stop it!" The youngest Russo grabbed Justin's chin and made him look around. "Look at them! LOOK!! WE DON' T HAVE THE TIME TO MESS AROUND ANYMORE!"

At this Alex and Justin did look around. Alex gasped, and Justin went silent. The people around them were pale. Their eyes were sunken in, their bodies seemed to shrink so they would be barely skin and bones in mere minutes, and breathing seemed to be hard to come by.

"Oh my god," Alex gasped as she looked at these people, people she had made this way with the spell. There was a hand on her shoulder, and she was surprised when she saw that it was Justin's. She fought the urge to jerk her arm away from him, as his eyes seemed so remorseful.

"Look... Before we are ever a band, we are wizards, and before we that, we're a family. And now we have to work together as wizards, as a band... as family, to make this right. First thing's first, Alex, Justin, play nice. Second, we need to speed up this competition." He looked around to see that they were the only ones still standing at this point, except for another twenty something band. They stood in their own huddle as Alex, Justin and Max watched them. As if to sense their gaze, they too stood tall and walked towards them. The Russos took a few steps towards them, and the two bands looked almost like they might have been in some sort of western showdown. The other band was made up of three people, like them, and the fact that they all looked alike made them guess that they were also a sibling band. What the Russos couldn't understand was why they were unaffected by the spell, unless-

"My name is Erik, these are my sisters, Jasmine and Nina. We're the Zabbette's," the middle one said. All three Russos knew about the Zabbette family, and it showed on all three of their faces. The Zabbette's were quite famous for being the only wizard family ever to get past the wizard competition. They had gone against it completely at first, refusing to go against eachother, and then, somehow when they did compete, they got the exact same scores, even at the rematch and retrials. Over and over again this happened until the Counsil decided that they all could keep their powers, but they were weaker than even the average wizard child. Their magic could be seen in the wizard world as child's play, but the family was always happily accepted still in the wizard world. Whenever they were asked how they beat the competition, they were tight lipped, but otherwise they seemed like a nice family. They too had tanned skin and dark hair

"I'm Max, this is Justin, and that's Alex."

"Just the Russos," Erik said with a nod. The Russos nodded at this. "Well, we know you know that we are wizards, just as we know it was you who did this to the competition. What we want to know is... why?"

"It wasn't on purpose, we swear." Max insisted. "It was just..."

"It was my idea. I didn't know that the spell would backfire so badly," Alex spoke up. The youngest of the Zabbette siblings, Nina nodded at this and watched the three of them.

"So you let a spell stay on you for longer than it was supposed to be, and that is why you're in that... costume," Nina said, as if she was trying not to laugh at them.

"Yeah," Justin admitted.

"So what can we do to help you get out of this? In case you haven't noticed, people aren't looking really healthy at the moment," Jasmine added in.

"Well, the only I idea I had was to give energy to the people in the park, put in an added field over them so no more energy could feed the cloud, and then skip to the last round where two become one."

"Isn't that a Spice Girls song?" Alex asked.

"Shut up," Max said. "I know there are a couple more rounds, but we need to skip to the last round. We just don't have the time for it."

"You're right... Max, was it?" Erik said. The youngest Russo nodded.

"Alright, since the Counsil didn't let us have our full magic, we can't give too much," Jasmine told them with a hint of regret.

"Perhaps if we tell everyone that the next round is about to start, they might wake up more, since, you know, this spell is connected to the competition." Max suggested.

"Okay, Jerkface- I mean Justin, you can go be useful by getting back on stage where you THINK you belong and play a few chords. That should wake them up a little bit." Alex said, giving Justin a look. To her surprise, Justin didn't say anything. He just nodded and picked up his guitar case and walked towards the stage.

"Alright, now for the field. Hope this works." Erik said. He took out his green wand and waved it in a rainbow formation above him. Where his wand moved, so did a transparent buble. He pointed at it with his wand and open hand, and the bubble moved outwards.

When it reached the outer parts of the park, Alex said, "Hey, can you make it reach all of Waverly place? The coffee shop and Sub Station are also affected."

"Yeah, good idea. Who knows who left the park by now and are still feeding the cloud," Erik said with a nod. He seemed to push outwards with his open hand and the bubble moved further.

"Okay Alex, let's move!" Max said, and the two started to help people around the park sit up. The dog at Max's side trotted around with Max and after Max touched the first person with his wand, Justin began to play a soft rock melody that Max couldn't quite name. the woman he touched looked up at him confused.

"Wha-?"

"You passed out, but its okay. The competition is almost over."

"Did I miss it?" she asked.

"We're on the last round," Max admitted. The woman nodded at this, and right away more color came back to her face. She looked pretty normal no, if not still a little thin. Max nodded to her and she slowly sat up, seeming dazed.

"Good one, Max!" Alex said. She did the same thing to the people she came across. She hoped that they could finish this once and for all. She looked at Justin on stage who played mechanically, and that seemed to keep people awake, and then she looked over at Harper, who had just been touched with Jasmine's wand. She woke up and looked at her, then searched the park for the Russos. Alex waved a small wave to her as her eyes met with Harper's, and then she went back to waking people up.


	16. Bad Day

All I Have To Do Is Dream

**The song used in this chapter is Bad Day by Daniel Powter. I don't know which lable owns the CD, but I believe Daniel Powter wrote the song. All rights reserved or whatever.**

Chapter 16

"YEAH! Wake up Waverly Park!" Justin called into the microphone. "Everyone get a good nap? Got enough energy now for two final songs of the competition?" he asked. The crowd, those who were waking up, cheered.

Alex watched as he moved back and forth, then looked down at the ground. She looked into the hazel eyes of Melissa, the barista from the coffee shop, who smiled and said, "Hey, did I fall asleep?" she asked.

"Yeah, but the last round has started, so up you get," Alex replied, patting Melissa on the shoulder.

"Well, in case you fell asleep for that last round- and don't try to deny it, a lot of you did- Mr. Hagerty announded that The Blue Ones, that handsome trio over there, and yours truely as part of Just the Russos, as the finalists. Now, would one of you blue ones and one of us purple ones come flip a coin to see who starts off this final round?" Mr. Hagerty looked around, groggy and confused by this, while Erik and Jasmine seemed to lightly bicker over who should go for the coin toss. Since the Russos and The Zabbettes knew the outcome of the competition, none of them really cared who did what, as long as the they all go to the end result. Erik must have lost the game of 'rock, paper, scissor', because he was the one who came up on stage. He nodded to Justin, who smiled and nodded back. "Come on up, you Russo siblings of mine."

"Why can't you do it?" Erik asked.

"Because I'm crowd pleasin'," the oldest Russo replied jokingly, but when he looked out into the crowd and locked eyes with Alex, he saw that his sister didn't appretiate that answer much. He shook his head in the way that said, 'Okay I'm sorry, don't hurt me' even as his fingers continued to play his guitar. "Truthfully, my sister Alex has better luck than I do," he lied. Alex's glare only became more severe, but she stomped on stage.

Erik took out a small gold coin that Alex recognised right away. It was a double dragon-tailed wizard coin. To anyone else, it probably looked like collectable Harry Potter money, but any true wizard would know better. "Call heads," Erik said. Alex nodded. Out loud, he said, "What say you? We call for first set?"

"Sounds good to me," Alex said, playing along. Erik flipped the wizard coin, and the midle Russo saw the animated dragon's tail wag. "Heads!" Alex called. Erik caught the coin, flipped it to the back of his hand, then peeked. Alex made a show of trying to see what it was.

"Tails," Erik said to Justin.

"TAILS IT IS! The Blue Ones go first." Justin announced to the crowd, who went wild.

"Good Luck! Alex said good naturedly.

"Ha!" Erik responded, and Alex found herself laughing despite the pain she felt in her heart over what Justin had done, and more importantaly, how Harper reacted. In another place, time, and dimension where she wasn't completely in love with Harper, Alex was sure she could have fallen for him. "Hey," he called. Alex turned on the second to bottom step. "Good luck to you, too. I mean it." The way he said this told Alex that he meant more than just the last song. He must have meant Harper as well.

"Thanks," Alex said, knowing that her luck with Harper never exsisted. With that, Alex got off of the stage and she made her way towards Max as Justin also got off of the stage and stood between his siblings. The Russos looked at eachother and nodded, and when Harper came to join them, the four of them stood in a small box facing eachother.

Piano music filled the park, and people cheered loudly for the Zabbette family on stage. "You all recognise this song. Sing it if you know it," Jasmine said into the mic as she continued to play. Then, on his cue, Erik began to sing.

_Where is the moment we're needed the most?_

_You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost._

_You tell me your blue skies fade to grey_

_You tell me you're passion's gone away_

_And I don't need no carryin' on_

Alex nearly melted into a puddle, again wishing that she could have fallen in love with him instead of Harper. Sure, she considered herself by now pretty gay, and sure he was about ten years older than she was, but it would have been so much easier, she thought to herself as she watched him sit at the drums and wait for his cue to cut in with them. She loved this song, and it seemed to really be the thing she needed to hear. Too bad Justin had to go and start talking. Seemed to be the story of her life. Something good would happen, a good idea (to a bad situation perhaps), a song she wanted to sing to Harper, a good song she wanted to hear, all of it ruined by Justin's voice. Every stinkin' time!

"Alright, this gives us maybe four minutes to come up with something."

"Not neccisarily," Max interjected, scratching his nose.

"Why do you say that?" Alex asked him.

"You play whatever you want, Justin will follow your lead, and give me about fifteen seconds and I'll figure out its rhythem. Magic, see." Max explained as he pet the brown dog at his feet. It was almost second nature to Max now, as if he now expected for the dog to be there when he'd absently reach down to pet it. The brown dog wagged its tail and acted as if it waited his whole life to be petted by Max.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Justin said, his gaze going to Alex. "Have a song in mind?"

"No. Last round was my big song idea, and you know how well that went," Alex replied bitterly.

"I'm-"

"Save it. I've not ready to forgive you yet," Alex told him with a hand up to silence him.

Justin's lip twisted sadly, then he suddenly brightened as he snapped his fingers. "How about 'Not ready To Make Nice'?"

"I don't think that is a good idea. That song seems so angry," Haprer spoke up, "and though I still don't know why you hit Justin, I don't want such a song to make you get violent again."

"That," Max added in, "and I'm going to be the one to botch the last song. I'd rather not do that while you're trying to express your anger at someone 'cause then you'd just get mad at me."

"So what else is there?" Justin asked.

"I suggest something fun, upbeat. That way, when I botch it, the whole competition can end like a... happier tone. Especially after this act," Max said, waving towards the stage, where the Zabbette's were nearing the end of the first chorus of the song.

"I like that," Harper said. Her eyes went to Justin, and then to Alex as if their body language would tell her why they were fighting this time. She didn't like the fact that Alex would hardly look at her since she'd first woke up and had been told what had happened.

"But that isn't how I feel," Alex admitted. She didn't want to just go on stage and pretend she was happy. She knew that her spell would force it anyway, but she didn't want to have to be magically forced to sing a happy song.

"How _do_ you feel?" Harper asked, putting emphasis on the word 'do'. At this, Alex looked at Harper, their eyes meeting for the first time in hours, and then the middle Russo looked away. She sighed and started walking towards the stage. "What-?" Harper started to walk after Alex, determined to know what was up with her best friend and why she won't talk to her, but her arm was taken by Justin.

"I'll go talk to her," he said.

"But she might hit you again," Harper protested, even though she felt a little flurry of butterflies in her stomach at Justin's touch. "I'm her best friend, I should go."

"If she does hit me agian, it's because I deserve it," Justin said softly, gently letting go of Harper's arm as he spoke. He hurried after Alex, who was looking up at Jasmine. Jasmine Zabbette was smiling at Alex as she sang back-up on the song and continued to play the keyboards. "Alex-"

"You know that song that mom loves? That one about loving someone for a long long time?" Alex asked without looking at Justin.

"Yeah?" Justin said slowly, not knowing where his sister was going with this.

"That is my song. Now..." Alex swallowed, but she kept her eyes on the Zabbettes. "For two minutes, please. Please, just go away." There was a silence for the slightest of moments, and Justni saw the shine of welling tears in his sister's eyes.

"Alright," Justin said, backing down. "That's all I needed to know. Leaving now." And he left. Alex continued to listen to the song, and even though the song used to be the one thing that picked her up on a bad day, she couldn't seem to feel any better about this.

_Sometimes the system goes on the brink and the whole thing turns out wrong_

_You might not make it back and you know that you could be well oh that strong_

_And I'm not wrong_

_Yeah!_

_So where is the passion when you need it the most_

_Oh, you and I_

_You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost..._

Alex sighed as she listened to the rest of the song. The Zabbettes received a wild applause at the end of their cover of 'Bad Day'. The trio bowed and then said into the mic, "And now 'Just the Russos' are up. Good luck guys, girl!" There was a small laugh in the audience and with a final wave, the Zabettes exited the stage. Alex took in another breath as she picked up her mic and guitar, which were never too far from the stage, and started to set up. She knew what she had to do. For herself. For Harper. For Max... And even for Justin.


	17. Long Long Time

All I Have To Do Is Dream

**The song in this chapter is Linda Ronstadt's Long Long Time. All rights reserved or whatever.**

**Sorry for the short chapter. Chapter 18 should make up for it.**

Chapter 17

Harper felt the worry and pain in the aftermath of Alex's rejection. She could tell that her best friend just needed some time, but that didn't make her own hurt and even slight guilt go away. She didn't know what she did to make Alex act this way, but she got the feeling that she was responsible and she was almost angry with herself for it. As her friends set up for the song they were going to sing (which Harper still didn't know what it was since Justin and Max went to another side of the park), Max's new doggy friend trotting after them, and Harper was left on her own for a little bit as they worked out how the last song was going to go. Harper didn't like that they left her like that, but she was looking forward to what they were going to all come up with. As she sat back on the blanket, she leaned towards the picnic basket for another soda or maybe even a sandwhich. She felt the growls of her stomach as she grabbed the wrapped sandwhich that had been left over, though it looked as if there had been a bite taken out of it. Harper tore off the bitten peice and happily bit into the rest of it as she sat back down, but as her butt touched the blanket, she heard a crinkling noise of paper. She lifted the right half of her buttcheek, where she felt the paper, and took it from under her. She also saw her Mario hat that she'd altered the night before. She placed it back on her head, remembering her duties as 'Just the Russos' number one fan, and then she looked at the page in her hand.

Harper gasped. There was no question who the artist of the picture in her hand was. Harper was always one of the first people to tell Alex how talented she was, but there was something about this page that told the redhead that there was more to it than that. If Harper didn't know better, she would have swore Alex had used magic on the page, for surely she wasn't that peacefull, that innocent... that beautiful. From the way 'Sketched Harper's mouth was twisted into a small smile, to the way her hair blew softly in the breeze, this picture spoke so much more than Harper knew. It said a lot more than a thousand words could, especially now that she could almost see what was going on with her friend. She looked up at the stage to see that her friends were ready to start their last song, and she saw the way Alex would glance carefully at Justin, but only when he wasn't aware of it, as if she wanted to check on him, but wasn't ready to show that she still cared for her brother. Alex cleared her throat on stage and then looked out into the crowd, tapped the microphone and said, "Give it up again for The Blue Ones! They are going to be a tough act to follow. I love that song," Alex admitted. There was a softed murmur of laughter from the crowd, and then Alex looked to Max. There was a nod from the youngest Russo, who took a small glance out into the crowd and spotted the dog he'd been looking after before looking back at Alex for his que. "Alright, let's go guys," she said into the mic before she started off the new song. There was a short guitar intoduction, and then Alex nodded to Justin who came in with what sounded like background bass. Then after about fifteen seconds, Alex began to sing.

Love will abide, take things in stride  
Sounds like good advice but there's no one at my side  
And time washes clean love's wounds unseen  
That's what someone told me but I don't know what it means.

Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine  
And I think I'm gonna love you for a long long time

Up until this point after the song had started, Alex's eyes never left either her hands or her brothers as she watched them and they watched her. She gave off the shy country singer look for the most part, and Harper could see even from where she was in the crowd that her hair had fallen slightly over ther eyes, but the magic wouldn't allow for that to hinder her playing at all. Suddenly, Alex's head lifted, and her eyes scanned the crowd for people she knew, and then they landed right on Harper. There was a still moment, and the redhead then understood everything, the song the Russos played and dedicated to her, the way Alex was so angry and violent towards Justin, and the silent treatment they both got from her. Harper understood even more, if she forced herself to think on it. The way Alex would look at her sometimes, the way she was reluctant to speak about Dean or any other guy she ever supposedly liked, the many times she would look disgusted or horrified whenever Harper spoke about how cute Justin was. Alex was in love with her.

Caught in my fears  
Blinking back the tears  
I can't say you hurt me when you never let me near  
And I never drew one response from you  
All the while you fell all over girls you never knew  
Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine  
And I think it's gonna hurt me for a long long time

Harper kept her eyes on the Russos, her heart and her mind running faster than she could ever imagine. Questions of why filled her head? Why hadn't Alex ever said anything? Why was she saying something now? Why was Alex in love with HER of all people? Why hadn't she told her that she was gay? Simply put: Why didn't Alex trust that things would be alright?

There was the sudden sound of thumping, and Harper looked away from her best friend, and locked onto the youngest Russo, who'd started to jump up and down with the beat, his hands on the tambarine and shaking it slightly. Then Harper saw a strange movement, one that involved Max doing some sort of crouch. When he came up again, his wand was in his hand, but hidden by the side of his body. Harper watched as he waved it at Justin, and his guitar strings broke, then magically came back together. Max's lips formed into what Harper guessed was a curse word, and Justin didn't stop playing, though he looked startled. Max jumped around some more, earning the crowd's love and laughter. Alex continued to sing, even after Max threw his tamborine at the brown dog that had been following Max everywhere. The dog jumped from his spot right in front and caught the tambarine and ran onto the stage and leaned against Max's leg. There was a chorus of Aw's, and Max started to jump around some more with his brown dog, who would get on his hind legs and walk that way. Then Max suddenly tripped, and Harper stood up suddenly, ready to go see if he was alright, but the boy seemed fine. Alex tilted her head and continued the song, her hands moving over the guitar as if she was born with a guitar in her hands, which, if Harper thought about it, really would have hurt Mrs. Russo…

Wait for the day  
You'll go away  
Knowing that you warned me of the price I'd have to pay  
And life's full of flaws  
Who knows the cause?  
Living in the memory of a love that never was  
Cause I've done everything I know to try and change your mind  
and I think I'm gonna miss you for a long long time

Harper's eyes filled with tears, hearing the way Alex sang about her, for her… to her. Harper didn't like that there was this situation between them. If Harper had been wired to love other girls, there would have been no doubt that it would have been Alex, since the brunette knew her better than Harper often knew herself. The fact that Alex also aknowledged this and was trying to tell her all of this made Harper feel even worse. She knew that Alex loved her now. Really, really LOVED her loved her, and would for a long time, even after the initial hurt of knowing that there just couldn't be the type of love that Alex wanted from her. But Harper would always love Alex as well. Alex was the sister she never had, and always wanted. They told eachother everything, which was why Harper was so shocked that she didn't know that Alex was gay. Harper didn't mind it that she was, not at all. She just wished they didn't waste so much time looking for a boyfriend for her. She wished they had gone to the dollar theater two months ago for the gay and lesbian film festival. She wished she could be her over enthusiastic PFLAG homie with Mrs. Russo next to her in one of those shirts that says 'I love my lesbian daughter'. Harper looked up again at the stage, her heart sad and guilty, knowing that their friendship will never be the same again, and it scared her. She hoped that Alex wouldn't end up hating her, especially after what Justin had done.

Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine…

Harper watched Alex take in a deep breath and pause in the song. She seemed (to Harper) to be lifting her chin in what Willow from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' called a 'resolve face'. Harper couldn't help but to copy the motion. It seemed, across Waverly Park, both girls were preparing themselves for the personal battle that was sure to come.

And I think I'm gonna love you for a long long time...


	18. No Minors

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 18

Alex put her guitar back in its casing as the crowd cheered and clapped, but she could tell that the enthusiasm was less for them than it had been for the Blue Ones, which was what she wanted. She stood off to the side of the stage and waited as poor Mr. Hagerty tried to remember a round that never happened. The middle Russo's heart was still beating really fast. She watched Max and the brown dog run in a lap around the camp set-ups, and Justin as he slowly put his guitar away. The look on his face and the movements he made suggested that he was saying a solemn goodbye, and Alex really couldn't blame him. She felt that she was going to miss her instrument, even as she wanted the competition to hurry up and be over.

"And the winner is..." Erik Zabbette said, making Alex jump at the sudden voice at her side. " 'The Blue Ones'! Haaaaahhhh!" He made the noise of a stadium going wild. "Miss Russo, you just won a year's supply of coffee and doughnuts. What're you gonna do now?" Erik asked in an announcer-like voice.

"Give 'em to my brother and then move outta the way!" Alex said, playing along. She grinned when Erik pumped his fist and said, 'Alright!'

"Seriously though, are you okay that we're gonna win?"

"Well, it was always the plan that we either didn't make it to the final wound or we'd have to botch it so that the other band won instead of us. It was right to end this way. After all, we've already proved that we couldn't handle any kind of fame."

Before Erik couldn't respond to that, Mr. Hagerty, as well as another man that Alex guessed to be from the record label, stood towards the mic. "Hello everyone. Yes, settle down," Mr. Hagerty said with a slight chuckle at the whoops and howls that came from the crowd. Then he cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. After speaking to George Cameron, president of Cactus Records, it appears that for legal reasons, all participants of this competition must be 18 years of age by or on the first day of entering the first round at Hagerty Beans last week. Seeing as none of the members of 'Just the Russos' are of legal age, they are disqualified from the contest." The crowd boo'd and expressed their opinion of the decision, and looking at Max, Alex saw how crestfallen the news had made him. "Mr. Cameron has agreed to redo the second round, and those who played today will get another chance at the prizes. Also, because I personally know how good these kids are, and because 'Just the Russos' managed to get this far in the competition, I will award them the prize of free doughnuts and coffee for a full year."

There was a small silence after this, and then out of the blue came a whoop from Max as he processed what had been said. "YES!" This seemed to wake up the crowd a little more, because they clapped and cheered as well with Max.

"How's that for convenient?" Erik mumbled.

"Seriously," Alex agreed. "But now that we're disqualified, everyone gets their rightful chance at the prizes."

"You can thank Nina for that. She figured that might be the case, and being the law school drop out that she is, was able to pull some tale together and spoke to Mr. Cameron Big Tie herself."

"You guys..." Alex said fondly. She was going to say more, but she noticed that when she spoke, her face felt lighter, and looking at Erik, she was sure that he was staring at her beard. She slowly brought her hand to her face and felt the beard and mustache that had been connected to her long locks had disappeared. She could only imagine what she now looked like with the purple paint in areas on her face where the facial hair wasn't anymore.

As if to read her thoughts, Erik looked around and took out his green wand and said, "Looks like the spell is fading. Want me to take care of the purple for you?"

Alex nodded, and after she felt the cakey face paint disappear, she said, "Thanks. I mean that. Without you three-"

"Don't mention it. We've gotten in a pickle or two before. It would've been nice if someone who knew better came to help us out just one of those times. Anyway, I better..." He waved his wand slightly, and Alex watched as the dark cloud disappeared, Erik's protective bubble going with it. The energy that made up the bubble, however, seemed to seep back to where it had originated, the people as well as the wands of wizards. This left Alex feeling a lot better, as if she was at her personal best, which would be useful for the moments she knew were coming next.

"Thank you," Alex said as she then looked down on the ground, where the microphone and guitar cases were almost completely gone. She sighed with relief, glad that the spell was over, glad that her feelings were finally exposed. It was as if she took off a huge backpack that she had been lugging around for years. There was a moment of silence as Alex and Erik watched the park and all of Waverly Place start to go back to normal.

"Well, the spell's lifted, you all get the free coffee and doughnuts which seems to make your little brother happy, no one's shot at winning is compromised... I'd say this is a happy ending, wouldn't you?" Erik asked.

Alex's eyes scanned the park, and they landed on Justin, who only stared at the spot where his beloved enchanted guitar once was, his eyes sad and unmoving. "Not quite," Alex responded.

Erik looked to the spot that he saw Alex staring at, and then he tapped the Russo daughter on the shoulder, grabbing her attention again. He was silent for just a second before he said, "Let me tell you something. Not surprisingly, us Zabs were just like you three. As soon as we were old enough, we were told about our wizard lineage by our wizard mother, who'd given up her magical abilities when she married our father. Unfortunately, that man wasn't worth the sacrifice- another story completely. I'll tell you sometime if you find me on WizFace and buddy me there. Anyway, we trained, we fought, we competed with each other for EVERYTHING. Then our mother got sick, and she begged us not to fight anymore. That... That is why we did what we did. For her. We wanted the three of us to be all or nothing when it came to magic, but the Council was prepared to choose the winner for us. So..." Erik sighed. "So we found a way to outsmart the Council."

"How?" Alex couldn't stop herself from asking.

"I can't tell you that, and even if I could, I'm sure the Counsel as done some... tweaking to the rules so that other wizard siblings won't try it again. I will tell you this, though: If you're serious about remaining as close as you are as a family- closer even- and if you can see past everything else to work together as you have today, I know you'll find a way." There was a silence between the two of them as Alex thought this over. Then Erik said, "Look, uh, we should get going. Nina, Jazz an' me. It's our mom 'n' stepdad's seven year anniversary in a couple'a days, and we're nowhere near rehearsed enough to sing their song to them."

"Wait, I thought your mom was sick."

"She got better," Erik replied. He didn't mask the 'DUH!' in his voice. Alex stuck out her tongue at him. He winked, and then he stuck out his hand for a shake. "I'm serious about WizFace. Look me up. There's only one Erik Zabbette. Trust me, I checked." With that, Erik walked away towards his sisters, and Alex watched him until finally she looked down at the palm of her hand at the object Erik had slipped there during the handshake. In her hand, Alex saw the double tailed dragon coin from the earlier coin toss on stage. She closed her fingers around the coin and allowed her mind to wander.


	19. To Be Loved

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 19

Justin was putting away extra food and throwing away the garbage from their picnic. While he was picking up the blanket, he felt the other end being lifted as well. This made him look up. He was startled further to see that it was Alex who was helping him, folding her end in half. Together, the two siblings finished folding the blanket up in silenct. Finally, after putting her hands in her pockets and running her finger over the double tailed dragon coin, Alex said, "I know that you wouldn't have said and done those things if you weren't being controlled by the spell."

Justin saw the opening and took it. "I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't mean those things-"

"But you did, Justin. On some level, you did mean to say those things." Justin looked as if he was about to protest, but alex put up a hand to stop him. "On some level, I know you did. I understand now, what the spell did to you. Like everybody else, you want to be liked, popular, noticed. There is a part of you that doesn't like how dense Max can be or how much of a screw up that I can be..." Alex hesitated before she continued on and said, "And I know that you love Harper, the same way I do."

"Alex-"

"Let me speak, will you?" Alex asked, and though she didn't mean to be snappy with her brother, it got Justin to stop talking so she could try and explain things. "The spelled allowed for you to say the things you said and to take Harper's dedication away from me because you're too decent- and good!- to do those things as Justin Russo. Big J had to do that for you."

Justin was silent for a long moment, unsure if he was allowed to speak now. He swallowed nervously. Then he said, "I still had no right- True or not, real feelings or not... I had NO RIGHT to say those things. And regarless of whether or not I feel anything for Harper, you loved her first, and I can't-"

"I know you think that, Justin, but I have no chance with her. There's no more room for guilt. I don't think... I don't think there's anything to really forgive. You did this whole thing in the beginning to heklp me gain even the slightest shot with Harper, knowing how it might hurt you because you love her, too. That is a big sacrifice, Brother." Alex said. She looked down at the grass beneather her as she continued to speak, unable to look her brother in the eye as she said the next part. "I'm returening the favor. If there's a chance that you and Harper could be happy together, take it."

Justin didn't know what to say to this. "What- What... What about you?"

Alex shrugged. "Depending on Harper, we may or may not go back to being best friends. Either way, I'll get over it. What choice do I have? As long as she's happy right?" Alex's lip trembled, and she bit it to try and stop the movement or to at least keep Justin from seeing it. Justin dropped the folded blanket so that it flopped to the ground and stayed in form. Then he grabbed his sister into a hug.

"you'll make some girl really happy as their girlfriend, Alex," Justin said as he rubbed his sister's back. He froze when he looked up and saw Harper slowly making her way towards them, looking unsure as to how to approach. He gently backed out of the hug. When Alex saw what was up, she looked at her best friend, and two sets of Russo heartbeats quickened at the sight of her shy smile.

"Hey," the redhead said softly, looking between the two siblings. "Am I...?"

"N-No," Justin stammered. "No, we were tlaking, but- uh, we;re good now." He looked to Alex and asked, "Wait, we ARE good now, aren't we?"

Alex almost laughed at this, but she wped her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, we're okay."

Justin smiled a small smile. "Okay. Good. I'mma go find Max," he said to excuse himself. He patted Alex on the shoulder awkwardly, then his eyes landed on Harper, and he paused for the slightest of moments, as if he wanted to say something to the redhead, but he continued to move without another word. Alex watched as he headed for one of the park's many trails.

Harper and Alex took the steps neccisary to face eachother, and the redhead took off her JAM hat, taking a peice of paper that she had hidden up there. Alex recorgnized her sketch and began to speak. "Harper, I-"

"I'm sorry, Alex." At Harper's words, Alex stopped speaking, surprised and confused. "I hoped that you could just tell me. We tell eachother everything."

"I-It wans't because I..." Alex took in a deep breath and stopped what she was saying. "Okay, I was afraid that you'd hate me and it'd get all weird between us, but I just... I could only seem to speak it in song. I knew that I had to let it out, even though I knew that you're straight. Singing it to you seemed to be the only way."

Harper nodded to this. She wondered, if the roles were reversed, would she have done the same? "I understand. It must have been so hard for you, needing your best friends at such a hard time, except for the fact that you best friend was part of the problem."

"Yeah," Alex agreed softly. "I also didn't want you to feel guilty for no- not being wired like me, for not feeling the same. I understand all of that, so if you're cool with me being this way, we can forget these feelings I have and go back to the way we were."

Alex, we can't, and I think you know that," Harper said gently. "And... Truth be told, I don't want you." Alex's heart sank when she heard this, and Harper, seeing this, backtracked quickly, putting both hands on Alex's shoulders to get her attention. "No-no-no. Alex, what I meant was, if we go back to the way we were and ignore this... this IMPORTANT part of who you are, then I'd be a horrible friend!" Harper looked mortified by this thought. "No, I wanna- uh, I wanna go to GSA or PFLAG or to some gay and lesbian events around the city. I want to help you talk to some cute girl at the art museum or go with you to Stacy's, that lesbian club with the teen nights. I wanna be there for you, Alex, just as I always have, just as you've always been there for me."

"You're gonna make me cry again, alex said, even as more tears- happy tears this time- were already sliding down from the corner of her eye.

"Oh Sweetie," Harper said, squeezing her shoulders. She then smiled, her eyes lighting up, and her hands left Alex's shoulders as a thought seemed to come to her. "Hey, you know that large rainbow sheet of fabric I bought for the fashion show last year but never used?" Catching on, Alex groaned. "Oh yeah, you're gettin' a rainbow pot holders for Christmas!"


	20. Max's Companion

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 20

Alex and Harper worked together to finish Justin's initial task of cleaning up their picnic. Since Justin took care of most of the trash, it was done pretty much in no time at all. Since the energy had been returned to where it originated, everyone looked busy as they, too, packed up or spoke to Mr. Hagerty about playing again in the redo. When Alex had the blanket and basket in her hands, Harper hugged her side and said, "I should get goin'. My parents are expecting company and would want me home. I don't have the heart to tell them that the Chinese take out carrier doesn't count as company." Alex laughed and leaned into her friend, her way of returning the hug even though her hands were full. Harper adjusted the hat on her head and then started towards the exit to the park.

Alex saw as Harper left that her parents were just entering Waverly Park. "Mom!" Alex called, running towards them. She put the blanket and basket at her feet as Erik's words entered her mind. 'She got better, duh.' Of course, she added in the 'duh' part because if sounded better in her head.

"Mija," Theresea said fondly, "how did you do?"

"We made it to the final round, but were disqualified because we're all underage. How are you feeling?" Alex asked in return.

"Like I slept for 19 hours," her mother replied easily. "There was the s,ightest headache when I woke up, but I think it ebbed away." Therese took Alex's face in her hand. She could see that her daughter had been through a lot, possibly all in that one day. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here to watch you all play. I really loved your song choice last night when you were rehearsing."

"It's okay, Mom. Really. Maybe we could play it again for you some other time," Alex offered.

"I would like that."

This whole time, Jerry remained silent as he waited for Alex to catch up with her mother. Alex considered him for amoment. She could plainly see how guilty he was, and resembled a kicked puppy at the moment with his own remourse of the things he has said to Alex. She went to her father, and hugged him around the waist. "I love you, Sweetheart," he said, placing a kiss on alex's forehead. "We can talk about everything- what you told me about Harper- tonight if you want."

Alex was glad that she wouldn't have to talk about it right then, especially since she was still feeling elated by the spell wearing off and the conversations she had already with Justin and Harper. She nodded. "Sounds good."

"Where are your brothers?" Jerry asked.

"They went to find rthe owner of this dog who keeps following Max around. He's been looking for her all day."

"Really?" Theresa asked, and Alex nodded again. There was a strange look on Theresa's face for a second, but no one spoke to ask what might have been wrong.

"So... The spell is completely lifted?" Jerry asked after a silence, even though look at his daughter clearly answered his question for him.

"Yes. No more guitars and microphones. We won the doughnuts and coffee anyway. Mr. Hagerty felt sorry for us for getting so far only to be disqualified," Alex explained.

"Ah," was all Jerry said in responce as he thought about Max on a year long sugar high at the hight of puberty. They were all in for an interesting year, but he was glad that everything seemed to have worked out.

After finding Max on the first trail he tried, Justin lead the youngest Russo onto the next trail as they both continued the quest to find the owner of the brown dog. the way Max acted made Justin wonder is Max ewas even trying. "Knock it off, you," Max said as he once again tugged on the tambarine to get it out of the dog's mouth. Apperently, the brown dog dind't know that the game had been over for a while now. "To tell you the truth, Justin, I can't remember what she looked like, just the fact that she was taller than me and really blonde."

"Would you recognise 'er if you saw 'er?"  
Justin asked, still slightly distracted by the conversation he had with Alex. When Max didn't answer right away, the oldest Russo looked over at his little brother.

"I don't know," Max admitted after a long moment. He otherwise didn't seem to concerned by this, and the brown dog, as it had for most of the day, seemed content at Max's side. The boys finally made it ouf of the trail, and just when they were about to head for the next, they heard their names called.

Justin was happy to see his mother out and about. Max and the brown dog trotted behind Justin and they all met up near the entrance/exit to Waverly Park. The boys each received feirce hugs from their mother, and it was a happy moment. The brown dog, seeing that it was a good moment, leaned into Max with his tail wagging so hard, the youngest Russo almost lost his balance.

"So, tell me more about this dog," Theresa requested, bending down to pet it. The brown dog licked Theresa's hand and his tail began to practically whip Max's inner knee now. "Oh, you're a good dog," Theresa coo'ed.

"I don't know, I was hangin' out on the blanket, and the dog just came up to me on his leash. I asked the woman with the leash if I could play with her dog, and she seemed happy to let me. But after I played with him, she was gone, and I haven't been able to find her since then, and now he follows me everywhere. I'd rather he followed me than to wander off and get hit by a car or dognapped by lighter happy teenagers." Max looked sicked by the thought.

Jerry looked at Theresa, who seemed to be inspecting the dog, lifting his legs one at a time and running her fingers over his short fur. The dog took it all in stride, licking Theresa's face and hands whenever they neared his mouth. "Its definately a boy. Chocolate lab?" Theresa wondered out loud.

"What does that matter?" Justin asked.

"It doesn't," Theresa replied with a small gesture, "but what does matter is the fact that he's got a spot on his shoulder that's in the same shape and spot of Max's birthmark."

At this Jerry snapped into action. "Are you sure?" he asked, even as he went to look for himself.

"Dad? Mom?" Justin asked, voicing all three of the teens' confusion. They watched as Jerry also looked the dog over. Then he stood up tall, giving the dog a quick pat on the rump before looking at Max.

"I need to ask you a few questions, Max."

"Um, okay," the youngest Russo replied cautiously, wondering if he had somehow gotten himself in trouble without even knowing it.

"What were you thinking about in the minutes leading up to the dog coming to you?"

"Uh- Well, I was thinkin' 'bout school and what it might be like to go to a wizard college."

"You were?" Jerry couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Don't look so surprised," Max said, slightly defensive and bitter. "If I want to be a superhero, I need to be real smart so I could come up with anything on the spot, like make a small bomb out of a paperclip and a stick of gum."

"Seeing as there are no actual elements to make a bomb with those ingredients, I doubt that could happen, superhero or not, Max," Justin said, but his tone was light, and Max just shrugged at this.

"Alright," Jerry said, as if to indicate that he wanted to get back on topic, "how did the thoughts make you feel?"

Max was silent for a moment. "I'd rather not say. I don't wanna sound all Full House-y."

"Okay, you don't have to tell me." There was a silence as everyone looked at Max, wondering what really went on inside his head sometimes. "So, what was the first thought you had upon seeing the dog?"

"I was thikning that he was an awesome looking dog, and if I had a dog like him, I would share my doughnuts with it."

"And what about the women who let you play with 'im?" Jerry asked.

"I only remember that she's blonde and tall," Max admitted, "but even as I try to remember her face or even her voice, it is hard. Its almost like she dind't even exsist."

"Its possible that she didn't," Jerry said. "She might have been a Guide."

"A Guide? To what?" Alex asked. Jerry didn't respond directly to her when he spoke up again.

"Max, every wizard, whether or not they win the Wizard Competition, receives a Companion- a- aspiritual pet of some sort- at one point in their lives. These Companions are bound to one wizard and they to it, and tend to share some of the wizard's strength and weaknesses. They also are very resilient to magic, which makes them great for practicing spells on. Now, a Guide is an entity that is still a bit unknown in the wizard world, but they are the ones who unite the wizard and Companion and set up the first meeting. Ususally it is either on purpose, with a walk in the park, and others times they make it seem like an accidental or fated meeting, like a stray dog who just happened to find you. It has been knwn that Companions come to a wizard at their most difficult time, usually before or after the Wizard Competition."

"So," Justin said slowly when it seemed that Jerry was finished with his explaination on what a Companion and a Guide was, "why Max? Why not Alex or me?"

"You already met your Companion, Justin," Theresea said softly. Right then it dawned on him and a tear fell from his eyes.

"Willie," he choked out.

"Yes. He was a stray just outside the subshop. I was still pregnant with you. the pregnancy was complicated, and I worried about you. Sometimes, I still have dreams about that time. But Willie came right up to me and followed me around. It was clear that he was old as it was, so when we finally decided to just let him inside, he and I would just lay on the bed or couch together. He helped me through it when your father was away manning the Sub Station. When you were born, though, Justin, he seemed to come alive, and he stayed with you. I noticed when you were born that you and Willie both shared a mark on the back of the neck. That was when Jerry told me what Willie was to you."

"He wasn't supposed to live for as long as he had, but he held on for you," Jerry said. "We've- okay, I've always left the gate open back then, but he never left. He loved you too much to want to go anywhere without you. I think he left that day to spare you the pain of his passing. As a Companion, he sensed that sort of thing, and he knew it was time."

"So it wasn't my fault?" Alex asked.

"Well, you still left the gate open that day, so in a way, yes, but it wasn't your fault that he chose that day to leave."

There was a long pause as everyone thought about this, and alex wondered just when her own Companion would come to her, what sort of 'difficult time' she would have to endure before it did if her time in the closet and then coming out of it didn't qualify.

Max finally spoke up. "He's mine?"

"In the best wording, yes." Jerry said.

"We're keeping him?" Max asked, and everyone could hear the hope in his voice. Jerry nodded.

"Even if we wanted to get ridda him- which we don't- we couldn't. He's your Companion. That blonde woman brought him here just to meet you."

Max jumped up and shouted "YES! I get a dog!" the brown dog jumped up on Max, his paws on the boy's stomache, and Max grabbed his paws and began to dance around. "C'mon, you! Let's go home!"

"That's a good idea," Theresa said. "I'll make hamburgers and tater tots for dinner." With that, all of the Russo family, including its newest furry emember, all began to walk home, Max chattering excitedly about the new dog supplies he would need to get for his Comanion.


	21. Epilogue Start Anew

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Chapter 21 (Epilogue)

*About 4 months later*

Alex listened to 'Us Zabs' on her music player. It was a song she'd downloaded off of their MrSpace page. they also had a WizFace profile, and she downloaded the song there as well, but she can only listen to it at home, since it also came with its home music video that magically left the computerscreen to play in front of you. right now, Alex was bent over her sketch pad as she sketched her best friend and brother, who were across the street in the sub shop. In the picture, Justin held up a plate with a sandwich and fries, which he held up in a 'your sandwich, mi'lady' type of gesture. Harper, who was in the booth seat, was looking up at Justin as if she was trying not to laugh at him.\

Across the street, however, Harper and Justin were sitting across deom eachother as they both read from a Shakespear play, the plate between them empty. Alex had to admit, if they ever stopped beating around the bush in cautious consideration of Alex's feelings, the two of them would make a cute couple. Alex looked down again, this time at her cup, which was empty. It was just as well. thought it was summertime now, she knew that she shouldn't stay up all night. Still, she was sad that her cup was empty so quickly. It really was a good cup of coffee.

the bell sounded as the door to Hagerty Beans opened up, and Max came inside. Without a word, Max's Companion Yuu (originally 'You' but changed after Max made an error when he painted the dog house he made in shop class with the wrong lettering) sat down right next to the door and waited for Max patiently, just as he had for the past four months. Yuu quickly became a great addition to the Russo family, and the changes in Max were noticable. Though he didn't become a genious overnight, he showed a lot of improvement both in school and in his magical studies. Justin loved having a dog in the house again, and even Alex liked when Yuu put his head on her knee when she did art projects at the table. It made Alex somewhat eager to meet her own Companion, and she was curious to konw what animal it would be.

"Wow, you're really good," a new voice said, which caused Alex to look up suddenly. Melissa stood by her table with a coffee pot in her hand. Alex and Melissa had spoke a lot before, usually about the competition and music in general. Since her time as a human radio on shuffle, she had a lot of new knowledge on the subject. As far as Alex knew, Melissa had never seen her art, even though Alex spent just about every day there, drinking coffee and thinking of new things to create.

"Oh! Thanks," Alex said. She studied Melissa for a second more before she said, "Nice highlights." Melissa, as far as Alex knew, had dirty blonde hair, so it was a bit surprising to see the new white/blonde streaks. the barista put her fingers through her hair, almost as if she'd forgotten that she had changed her hair.

"Yeah, thanks. The hairdresser was frustrated about the slow buisness, so he put highlights in for free out of boredom."

"He did a good job," Alex commented. Melissa smiled. Alex looked out the window at Justin, who had his hand up as he spoke out a part of the play he and Harper were reading. A couple of people were watching them, and some even looked impressed. "You couldn't really tell now, but my brother had a crush on you," Alex said somewhat out of the blue. She wasn't sure why she said that, actually. She felt she wanted to say something, but didn't know exactly what to say to her. Now that she thought about it, though, she wondered if Justin's crush on Melissa was real or if it was a front so that Alex wouldn't find out who he really loved.

Melissa also looked across the street. "Oh yeah? I'm glad he got over it. Though I like brunettes, the type I like tend to... keep it longer," the blonde said. She tucked some strands of hair behind her ear and wouldn't look at Alex. It took the middle Russo a moment to realize just what Melissa told her.

Alex had come out to her family and to Harper, and thanks to the redhead, Ales now owned the promised potholders (a good 5 months early, mind), but she wasn't yet at the stage where she felt comfortable wearing rainbow colored pride things like one of the regulars in detention did. She had gone with Harper to the gay pride parade, and she could swear that Harper had more fun than she did. then again, it was pretty crazy there, and Harper is, well, Harper, so it shouldn't have surprised her as much as it had.

"Ah," Alex said, and motioned across the street. She swallowed before she said, "the redhead," as if that would explain it all, and Melissa nodded as if it had.

"And now she's with your brother?" Melissa asked, watching as Harper stood up and looked down to Justin as she read out her part from the play.

"Well..." Alex said, not sure how to answer that, since they werne't really together. Yet.

"That must hurt," Melissa said somewhat softly.

"It did, once, but they've been good about getting close when I'm not around to preserve my feelings or something. I've gotten better about it. Besides, I figured that falling for a straight girl was like some lesbian right of passage or something."

"You're stronger than me, then. I don't know if I could be okay with it."

"I don't know, maybe i time you would," Alex said as she put more shading on her picture where the plate's shadow gfell over parts of Justin's wrist. "I'm glad that she didn't end up hating me or that our friendship hasn't gotten too weird, but knowing now that you're... like me makes it easier. I need a friend like that."

"Definately," Melissa agreed.

"Missy!" came a yell fro the back, "It's not your break yet, so quit yer chitchat and help me stock the Seattle brew!"

Melissa made a 'yikes' face to Alex, who returned one with a guilty look of her own. "Guess I've gotta get back to it, but if you ever need to talk about it- or anything really, then you know where to find me."

"Yeah, the same goes for you, too. Or if you just want a free sandwhich, I'm right across the street," Alex repleied. She was just about to ask Melissa if she would want to go see the lesbian film 'Fire' with her that Friday at the dollar theater, but there was another shout from the back.

"MISSY! TALK TO RUSSO LATER!"

"Alright! Coming!" Melissa shot back. The two of them exchanged a look that said they'd talk some other time, and the older girl hurried to p;ut back on the burner before she disappeared.

Alex smiled at the scene that'd just happened. Her gaze then went back to Justin across the street. Harper was reading now, and Max had joined the small group of spectators. She let out a small laugh as she added in a little more blush to 'Sketch Harper's cheeks before she paused for just a minute. Then, she turned the page to start anew.

The End


End file.
